Originally Posted by rickair7777

That just means they didn't see anything. It doesn't mean they would have for certain seen something if it had happened.

A high-resolution satellite would be able to see exactly what happened...if it was looking right at the airplane. Those satellites are in high-demand and probably focused on the middle east or somebody's military facilities, not open ocean.

The satellites best suited to that sort of thing would be the ones designed to detect strategic missile launches...they constantly cover large areas and look for thermal blooms (ballistic missiles but out a lot of heat on launch). I would think if the airplanes' fuel atomized and ignited in the air then such a satellite could have spotted it. But a small HE charge causing structural failure would not be enough to show up unless a lot fuel burned all at once.