malcolmyoung a few posts back mentioned the risk of people on the ground in Bintan being hit. Bintan is 2,400 square km with a population of about 200,000. If one guesses the hazard zone for falling debris at an exceedingly conservative 1 square metre, the chance of death or injury from one compact piece would be less than 1:12,000. The risks of falling debris to people on the ground are negligible except near to major cities one would have thought, Lockerbie being a dreadful exception. I'll let others comment on the risks to folks on the plane, but thankfully looks like they were in the safest possible hands...