Heli-phile
I don't agree with your sentiment.
I am not a pilot, but I am a VERY experienced investigator and AVSEC expert.
This is no longer about flying, per se. This is now an investigation to find the aircraft and, I would suggest, people like me are far more qualified in that regard than holders of flying licences!
However, I see no real problem with people who have various relevant skills pooling their knowledge and experience to try and figure it out. In the course of figuring it out, a lot of extreme ideas will be put forward and then be dismissed as and when information is forthcoming. That is the nature of investigations, no?
Whilst I would say that, in the vast majority of cases, the obvious cause is the correct one, there are the odd cases where something left-field turns out to be the cause. That sifting requires solid, corroborated information. None of us has access to that right now.
We can posit ideas based on various assumptions, but you know what they say about assuming? To assume makes an ASS of U and ME, as I was taught decades ago on an intelligence analysis course run by the government that employed me at the time. A course run by the best in the business, I might add!
So, where does all that leave us? Basically, in terms of solid facts, pretty much right where we were when the story went public last Saturday.
If, IF, for example, the Immarsat data proved to be accurate, along with the Malaysian radar data, we could eliminate a whole lot of theories and shut down a large of chunk of the SAR effort.
Until such time as that firms up, they'll have to keep looking pretty much everywhere within the flight range, as fuelled.
I feel sorry for the Malaysians, frankly. They have half the world on their case.