All the course changes attributed to 9MMRO after turnaround could have been pre-set into the FMC with the exception of altitude changes occurring in both directions.
So the question before us is: at what altitudes did 9MMRO fly?
AfterPrivtPilotRadarTech's pointing out that the actual indication we have from the Malaysian statement that they lost the track at "10 miles past MEKAR" is that 9MMRO was flying at about 21,000 feet, as that is the distance it would have passed beyond the radar horizon of a radar 243nn distant at an elevation of 2700 feet.
As unpalatable as this sounds, we must accept this altitude unless we can find some reason to revise it. This has some disturbing implications because if the plane was at 21,000 feet over 200nm past Pulau Penang, might that have been the terminal altitude for the flight? The lower altitude would fit in with some of the current theories about where the splashdown occurred because a 21,000 foot altitude would require a much lower groundspeed that those which have been given the most weight, and a lower groundspeed moves the projected spashdown point NE from what is currently the high priority location. For instance a 370kt groundspeed would move the projected splashdown point about 750nm NE from the point predicted by Duncan Steel and the Australians.
I don't know if a 21,000 ft altitude at 370kts is a likelyhood for a 777, somebody else will have to work that out.
I agree that this runs counter to most other assumptions about the flight (mine included), but it does have to be considered until it is eliminated on the basis of actual technical information IMO.
A 21,000 foot altitude from Penang on means that the flight could have been flown without pilot intervention, and it looks like it would have made the plane splashdown where the ocean currents were most likely to carry debris to Reunion in 16 months or so.
eeeeK!