Originally Posted by
Sheep Guts
What Flight level is you fuel burn based on. Reports are coming out now that the aircraft dropped to 12000' or lower after its turn back. Surely this would reduce the distance covered and make this current search area way too far away now. Also making the 40 degree SAT IOR range ring handshakes much closer to the equator than previously thought.
At normal cruise altitude and accounting for takeoff, though without correction for below-average # of pax.
Sure, dropping to 12000' would lower the range, but we don't know the exact descent profile and we don't know how long it stayed there. It would certainly not last full 7.5 fours at 12000' all the way through. (I can't find data on fuel burn at 12000' for any large aircraft, but even going down to 25000' would cut maximum range by ~10%)