[Uncle Chip]

I don’t even have to deal with altitude.

Whatever the altitude assumed by those who drew up those 450k and 400k flight path line is what I assumed — whatever that was.

[blueplum]

I’m not sure what Inmarsat used, either, but the standard story has been, “the final handshake was attempted outside of the hourly window, possibly at fuel starvation because of power fluctuations.”

subcaption below graphic, the final ping:
http://theaviationist.com/2014/03/27/inmarsat-helps-finding-route/

I was thinking, faster, lower or in circles would cause starvation north of all predictions, but I forgot about the time factor, and you’re right - faster would have splashed it before 8:19am.

Back to the drawing board...