slats11 said,
However it does seem an odd coincidence that the claimed level of precision should just happen to produce a result of 40 degrees.
I'm not so sure I understand why 40 Degrees is seemingly so odd.
The Map
The lines are fairly close to begin with and a little bit of rounding would likely make little to no difference when we are talking about a last known with an up to a 59 minute margin for variance anyway, imo
The 8:11-9:10 time frame seems to mean a 4-5 Degree +/- in both directions is possible considering that (4-5 degrees) is roughly what the plane managed between last Contact and last Radar hit (roughly an hours time). The "40 degrees" already becomes anywhere from roughly 35-45, with fuel levels (as we believe we understand them) indicating it is probably closer to the initial 8:11 time anyway.
Plausible theory - 40 is easy for all to remember and report, and doing so would make no real difference, so they rounded it to that.
Or am I just thinking about this incorrectly?