> The problem I have with the above statement is that radar is unambiguous. Either the aircraft turned back, continued on, descended rapidly below radar coverage or broke in to bits. They all have different returns so you can't say "it may have possibly..."
Thanks for the specific statement.
I rather have the impression that, especially under less-than-ideal conditions (range, terrain between radar site and target, weather, etc.) radar is not unambiguous.
Also, even if it had disintegrated... Yud expect a radar (were there coverage) to pickup some of the larger bits right? Isn't a portion of 777 fuselage larger than other entire aircraft?
None of that applies here. Range at 35,000 feet for primary radar systems is over 100NM (~190km). It was a clear night over open ocean using a country's primary early warning and defense mechanism situated along the coast.
The US located the cargo door that departed from UA 811 in 1983 using radar analysis to find the part. They could see a 6meter piece of metal fall from the aircraft at 25,000 feet. 100km off shore.
Thanks for the specific statement.
I rather have the impression that, especially under less-than-ideal conditions (range, terrain between radar site and target, weather, etc.) radar is not unambiguous.