Originally Posted by sensor_validation
Highlights lots of gaps we haven't been told about - but plotting ACARS messages at receipt time only shows when aircraft attitude able to communicate with satellite - not when they were generated.
You meant that ACARS at reciept time only shows when the CMC was able to dispatch them thru the satellite link.
ACARS sequence/order/time is due to the processing time logic, being queued, and to protocole limitations as nothing (so far) is indicating that she could have reached an attitude that would broke the satellite link: up to +20 deg pitch and +/-40 deg bank angle combined should make any ACARS sending possible every time from the begining to the end.
Now, it is also possible that the satellite could be, at one point, busy with other aircraft sendings (as there is not so many satellites above this place and the total bandwith was not illimited). That is also how I interpreted the BEA quote "that the satellite link could be broken" (due either to aircraft attitude or satellite not available for login).