Originally Posted by
Daermon ATC
For example, if after about 5 hours of flight the pilot would simply turn 180 degrees, fly that track for half an hour, turn 180 degrees and repeat untill fuel exhausted... wouldn't the relative angle to the satellite still be about the same?
The relative angle would be the same. The point is,
AFAIK, it wasn't.
According to Inmarsat the aircraft exhibited a consistent track away from the satellite. The Doppler would have been negative, the time delay would increase.
In your scenario, while the Doppler shift may also have been negative the time delay and angle would have remained constant.