Originally Posted by
parabellum
Forget all about LNAV in the immediate aftermath of a serious problem, it will be FLCH and HDG Select, bring up ARPT display and head for nearest suitable. Pumping in Lat and Long would be unnecessary and both time and attention consuming, maybe revert to LNAV when everything is under control but if it is an immediate landing even that is unlikely.
Yes, agreed. Actually if you look at the track that they were on at the time on airways R208 from IKUKO to IGARI, it has a reciprocal track of 197 deg M. Assuming they wanted to return to Kuala Lumpur immediately, could they have set a heading of 197 initially and for whatever reason, the aircraft wondered further to the west, possibly with a DIRECT TO WMKL (Langkawi) set in the FMC? Once having passed WMKL with no further waypoints to track to, could LNAV then later have disconnected due to flight track discontinuity and then reverted to HDG select with the original 197 Heading that was selected?
If so, this matches the heading of 197 deg M and associated track that Capt Kremin was suggesting in his
post 7539 of where the aircraft may have ended up.