[cynwoody]

Not enough fuel onboard to make it there.

Were you watching the meter?

Fully fueled, this airplane has a range of 8892 miles. They had enough to reach Beijing with the customary reserve. But who's to say somebody didn't arrange to have some extra pumped aboard at KUL?

[barmag25]

8892 miles is about 17 hours worth of flying.

Malaysia Airlines has said the plane was fueled for at least eight hours of flight. The Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route lasts six hours. Aircraft typically carry two hours’ worth of fuel on top of what is needed.

see post 124. Only had enough fuel left for 2200 nautical miles of flight when the transponders were turned off.

[barmag25]

Correction on earlier post. It takes a 777-200 ER 14 hours and 25 minutes to fly 7598 miles. That’s ATL to DXB.