Odd thing is, MH370 was never found, ever...it just vanished as if abducted by aliens. While the information about the new plane is scarce, it has vanished as well(till found, if ever). In both cases, the pilots did/asked strange things. MH370 simply turned around, while this new plane asked the tower to gain altitude.
There is nothing weird about pilots requesting a higher altitude to fly over clouds/storm.
The reason MH370 isnt found yet, and might never be found is because it flew with nearly full tanks towards on an unknown heading towards the middle of nowhere. IIRC it had like 4000 miles range, that is a gigantic search area especially if its an ocean where stuff sinks.
This plane, while of course its way too early to even speculate what happened, nothing seems out of the ordinary in so far you consider a crash 'ordinary'. Its not exactly the first time a plane plunges from high altitude (think airfrance 447) or disintegrates in midair (think China Airlines Flight 611 and dozens of others). If anything its a miracle it doesnt happen any more frequently.
