igs942,
You're assuming the fuselage's pressure hull was not breached on impact? If so, it would be unlikely to sink. But, if it did, the figures of diff. pressure you are using are positive values, i.e., the cabin is designed to withstand a higher pressure than the exterior (opposite of a submarine). So a/c have inward relief valves that open at about -0.5 psi to stop the hull being squashed by negative differential AIR pressure if the a/c descends too rapidly. If, for whatever reason, the cabin was intact but sinking rapidly, the inward relief valves would probably be inadequate. So the end result might be as you said. But such a scenario seems incredible.
As has been said, Réunion is remote and about 30 n.m. in diameter, so the chances of any one piece of floating debris making a landfall there after travelling thousands are similarly remote. If a flaperon from MH370 has indeed achieved that, it’s likely that it was not alone. On this evening’s news there was an item showing an airborne search of the Mauritian coastline. Fair enough, but I’d put my money firstly on the eastern coast of Madagascar; secondly the African coast; and then maybe the Seychelles group.
[EDIT]
Slats11,
My limited experience of night flying in the pax cabin in recent years suggests that (sadly) nobody ever looks out of the windows, and the blinds are generally closed. By the time dinner was over and the cabin lights were dimmed, any lone eccentric looking outside would have been unlikely to realise that the gibbous moon was on the wrong side of the a/c. Nowadays, curiosity and observation of the skies are a rarity, not to mention understanding. Portable electronics are more enticing...
Last edited by Chris Scott; 6th Aug 2015 at 22:52.