Ok, so if it caught fire, it would not have stayed airborne for hours. So where is the wreckage?
SOPS,
They did stop searching in the South China Sea about 10 days ago. Did they cover it all, did all countries check their waters and coastlines. Answer IS no because they were all told to stop due the Sat data. Well IMHO the SATCOM installation which is above the economy section in B777 at the back of the aircraft could have still been pinging as wreckage in the ocean which subsequently sunk after 08:11. The only thing needed for accurate handshakes is ADIRU info for direction. If this ADIRU info was cut surely it would still handshake at its last recorded position of the satellite MAY NOT BE STRONG SIGNAL but floating in the sea it would vary in strength. The Satcom installation in the B777 is totally autonomous to the rest of the avionics which are located in the pointed end of the jet. It has its own power supply, battery is close by Rack E10, SDU Satellite Data Unit, BSU Beam steering unit ( which would be stuck in one position after no ADIRU info)in Rack E11. They will have to retrace their searches and cover new areas in the South China Sea and Malacca straits, this time Thailand needs to be included. All options are still on the table.
Formation Drivers theory on an intense Lithium Ion battery fire in the forward cargo and then burning antenna connections or boxes in or near the forward avionics is still plausible. Loss of the Transponder and the VHF effectively simultaneously would indicate some coaxial junction box may have been damaged.