Investigators are working to retrieve data that was deleted from the flight simulator owned by the pilot of the missing plane MH370. It was taken from his home in Kuala Lumpur as part of the inquiry into the disappearance of the aircraft.

Sources close to the investigation say they are also exploring the possibility that the flight crashed into the Southern Indian Ocean after the pilots were overcome by smoke in the cockpit.

The acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein says international experts have been called in in relation to the deleted information.

Earlier a news conference on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane descended into chaos after two relatives of passengers attempted to stage a protest.

The pair were forcibly removed from Malaysian authorities' daily briefing to journalists after trying to unfurl a banner.

They were led away and shut in another room before being taken out of the hotel, with one being knocked over in the confusion.

Distressed relatives were removed from a press conference

Family members are angry about the lack of information they have been given since the plane disappeared 12 days ago.

This translator describes what the protestors said.

New direction

It comes after Thailand revealed its military radar may have picked up flight MH370 heading back towards Kuala Lumpur just eight minutes after it lost contact with air traffic controllers.

They say they tracked the signal as the missing jet turned towards Butterworth and the Strait of Malacca, before it disappeared from their screens.

It took off from Kuala Lumpur at 12:40am on March 8th and its transponder, which allows air traffic controllers to identify and track it, ceased communicating at 1:20am.

The plane slipped off Malaysian civilian radar screens at 1:30am but continued to appear on its military radars until 2:15am before disappearing entirely.

Thailand's failure to quickly share possible information about the plane raises questions about the degree to which some countries are sharing their defence data.

Maldives investigate

Meanwhile authorities in the Maldives say they are looking into reports that islanders saw a "low-flying jumbo jet" on the day the missing Malaysia Airlines plane vanished.

In a statement, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) said studies of military radar had yielded nothing so far.

But police said they were "looking into the reports in the media saying that a low-flying airplane was sighted above Kuda Huvadhoo."

Several alleged sightings of the Boeing 777 have turned out to be false alarms.

Air France families reach out

The families of the Air France 447 crash victims have written to the relatives of those on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, offering their support.

In the open letter, published by a German Association of family members of those killed, they express their "sympathy and compassion in these days of utmost anxiety".

The letter also urges the relatives of passengers, who hail from 14 different countries, to approach their respective national governments to put pressure on the Malaysian military and civil authorities to speed up their investigations and quickly release their findings.

Meanwhile scientists who were involved in finding the wreckage of the Air France plane say they fear MH370 may never be found, without a significant new lead.