Iam W " totally correct , it is how it is done and I would even argue how it SHOULD be done.
WillowRun 6-3 : You have to realise hat the current system works extremely well , it is based on years of global experience and cover all cases to 1 to the minus 9 .
It is indeed frustrating for everyone not to understand what happenned, but most of us believe it was most probably a deliberate act by someone who knew exactly what he ( or they) were doing.
I do not think changing ATC ,SAR or military regulations will prevent another case like this to happen again.