Very early on they said the flight data recorder was turned off. How they knew that is anyone’s guess, unless there was inside information beforehand. We will have to see if they find it and if anything is on it.
Grabbing for their 15 minutes of fame!
I never saw that stated. And if it was (which I never saw) it certainly was never repeated. In addition, I haven’t ever seen it reported that it’s even possible to turn it off.