As I read this I have one ear to the news coverage on the TV.
I guess it is inevitable that the professional talking heads read this thread but many items here are either picked up by the THs or the contributors here feed back what the THs have said on their goggle box.
A veritable self-licking lollipop.
The 'free' sharing of technical data, such as radar or military capabilities has been mentioned as being less than complete because of secrecy considerations.
While this may well be an elaborate misappropriation of the aircraft it does not follow that it ended successfully. As Bill MacGillvary pointed out back on #2917
but it would appear possible that it did not impact (if it did) in the sea, but may have continued on a track that put it over some fairly inhospitable land terrain (Jungle/mountain).
That possibility could be true if the northern track is correct. I would suggest that a crash on land would concentrate the debris and be far less noticeable than debris in the open ocean.