Long meandering flight after the first turn means whomever was in control succumbed to the low pressure and perished.
If the aircraft actually got to 45k and stayed there awhile, those masks aren't going to completely protect you. The Dixie cups in the back are less than useless under those conditions, pax would be gone in minutes.

Also, if the goal was suicide in the middle of the ocean, why set way-points? I would've just flown VFR by compass-heading and starlight.

To me, GPS and points are for when you want to get some place specific. When flying for fun, (or ultimately, to die?) a precise course wouldn't matter.

So, I have a question.
The media is reporting that "authorities" have specific times that the Xpndr and ACARS were "turned off".
How the hell do the "authorities" know this?
My understanding is; they were not in radar contact at the time and unless ACARS was in the middle of a transmission, I don't know how they could know these times so specifically.
Am I missing something here?
Also if ACARS is off, what system is pinging the satellites?
I'm old but I don't get this.

Graybeard

Nobody new anything real time. However everything is recorded. They are simply going over all the data from every source and connecting dots.

I do but I'm certainly not going to tell you or post it on a public forum.

The news media has forgot the first week of the Olympics Interpol put out an alert that there was a possibility for a "tooth paste" bomb. Was Interpol correct with their info but were wrong on the place/time/target?

Don't Believe everything you hear in the news media. They reported the other day that a plane cant fly at FL400 because the masks would drop. No news media its your that drop...ed the ball that is!

I would also like to point out the fact that if there was some type of emergency on FLT 370 the crew would most likely have turned the plane to that exact 90 degree turn that happened. Here is why:

1) they were half way between Malaysia & Vietnam...Where would you have gone if there was an emergency in the middle of the night, over the ocean, half way between your airline home country or fly to a foreign country?

2) the turn was the shortest route to countless airports that were long enough to land a triple 7...just google Malaysia airport map & Malaysia Airline own website

3) pilots would know there countries landmarks/Airport SID if there was in fact a emergency vs flying to Vietnam with out a radio/vfr charts handy

4) Both pilots were from the northern area of Malaysia...did they learn to fly in that area making them more familiar?

5) Turning back to their takeoff airport would have been a 180 turn and appears to be a longer distance then going to the northern Malaysia airports

6) What was the traffic volume out of their takeoff airport that time of night = possible mid air collision vs going to the less traffic airports up north.

7) Company maintenance facility on Malaysia

8) Passengers custom issues would be less because they had already been in Malaysia vs going to Vietnam pax would need to obtain visas to leave the airport to go to a hotel.

9) Dealing with 230 passengers the next day to move them to their final destination...logistic would be much easier out of Malaysia.

The thought of a perp driving a plane with 237 (238?) dead bodies in the back for 5+ hours gives me the creeps - to me it changes the magnitude of the crime, if indeed there was one. I hope this is wrong for the sake of their relatives and everyone involved.

Unitedflyier I found an EK one online.