One story I read stated the reporting of contact lost 2 hours after departure was wrong and that contact was actually lost 40 minutes after departure.
I’m speculating that the 2 hour number MAY have been an official number. In that ATC may have continued to try to raise a signal for 2 hours(1+ hours after contact lost), even though return contact from the plane may have ceased after 40 minutes.
It’s hard to say at this point. Depending on the actual coordinates of the wreckage, it could be anywhere from 300 to 500 miles from departure. The local officials giving updates seem to use ‘south, southwest, northeast’ loosely.
Thanks so much for the expertise of so many freepers and the discussion of what might have cause the crash.
Much better reporting then the MSM
Question for anyone who would know:
Why isn’t all the info recorded in the black box of an aircraft(location, communications, data readouts, etc), immediately uploaded to some online service(Cloud?) in real-time?
I understand the continued necessity of the black box as a signal-beacon should something go wrong and the plane needs to be found, but doesn’t the technology exist to transmit all flight data in real-time?