Remember what is pushed to the media may not be the truth.
Russian BUK missiles can reach around 70k feet (MH17).
Glide range depends on many factors, but I was taught a rule-of-thumb of 2 x the height in thousands....so, 31000 ft gives about 62 miles glide.
In unforeseen incidents such as this, the pilots' first reaction is, should be, FLY THE AIRCRAFT. Then navigate safely, and THEN communicate.....