Do we actually know that information is available from pings prior to the published 'last ping' at 08.11?
I haven't looked into the
docs yet (thanks techgeek). How stuff (pings) is logged in the space equipment and then downlinked is probably not covered by the spec. At some point I was afraid logs could have been overwritten (I no longer am).
Earlier I reasoned/estimated on technical grounds why i would expect the precision derived of the pings to be better than 5km. I hope I do find something on the precision in the spec.
It was officially stated that primary radar track was correlated to sat ping arcs. That statement IMHO only makes sense
- if sat pings are sufficiently precise
- AND pings form the first two hours of flight (during primary radar coverage) are still in the log.
So all pings should be in the log, probably even pings from earlier flights or when the a/c was parked at the gate. Those earlier pings in the log from a definitely known (parking) position can even be used to calibrate the measurement of in flight pings to a better precision.
*IF* the precision is actually that good (5km), then taking into account known wind drift and making assumption on a/p settings (FMC versus HDG - Thanks aerobat77 ) and TAS I would expect you can come up with some pretty precise estimations of the flight path.
P.S.: This is only educated conjecture !! (But i think supported by the fact of SAR equipment being rushed to the south)