Our best guess at this point is that the departure times in the WashPost story were not correct.
Yeah, I read that after I posted (doh!). That makes more sense...takeoff at 2135, off radar at 2259, so an hour and 24 minutes would put it about in the right place if you assume a normal cruise around 450-500 knots airspeed, and allow for a climb to 10,000+ meters, 33,000+ feet, which I'd assume would be cruise altitude for a jetliner like that.
I do wonder if the FSB will ask for American FBI or NTSB help? They've probably got the resources, but then again, the NTSB is generally considered to be the best in the world at accident investigation.
}:-)4