Originally Posted by
Propduffer
I plotted a hypothetical path from VAMPI to Ocean Shield's location (20.8S 104.1E) under the assumption that the plane was flown about 200 mi north of Banda Aceh in order to avoid Indonesian radar. At this segment of the hypothetical flight the plane might also have been at a somewhat lower altitude in order to stay below the Indonesian radar horizon.
I come up with almost 2300 NM for that flight path (I don't know where you placed last radar contact with Malaysian radar); how does this fit in with your estimate?
As commented above, if last known radar contact is near NILAM and MH370 wasn't visible to Indonesian radars at that point, it's pretty straightforward to get from NILAM to 20.8S 104.1E in less than 2000 NM without getting any closer.
If radar slide is false though, MAPSO-IGREX-TOPIN-IKASA-Ocean Shield is 2213 NM (370 kts) while giving a wide berth to Indonesian airspace.
Incidentally, Ocean Shield spent the last day within 20 NM of a major waypoint corridor from India to west Australia. Interesting coincidence. Remember how roaring 40's were a big problem because no corridors went there? This area is not.