again, to remind people, NOWHERE in the preliminary report is there any verification of altitudes except during ATC radio recordings of assignments and readbacks/reports of altitudes.
there are guesses at the end of the track to the search area.
so why are we talking about modes of autopilot to change altitudes?
in other words, alot of BS has come down the pike and its time to dismiss altitudes like FL390, FL450, 12,000' etc.
Unless of course someone out there has any real info!??