As long as we're engaging in wild speculation, let me put this out there.
If the flight was hijacked, who would do that to a plane full of Chinese passengers? Maybe the same group behind the Kunming attack?
Following that thread, where would they take the plane? Perhaps to Xinjiang / East Turkestan?
If so, the pilot could avoid detection by (1) flying at night, (2) north through the Bay of Bengal, (3) through Bangladesh, and (3) over the Tibetan plateau and Himalayas.
This is almost the same distance as flying to Beijing, the flight's original destination. It would also explain possible military radar pings west of the Malay Peninsula.
Commercial flights avoid the Himalayas because they can't reduce altitude in case of engine failure or cabin decompression, low priorities for a hijacker.
If the flight was hijacked, who would do that to a plane full of Chinese passengers? Maybe the same group behind the Kunming attack?
Following that thread, where would they take the plane? Perhaps to Xinjiang / East Turkestan?
If so, the pilot could avoid detection by (1) flying at night, (2) north through the Bay of Bengal, (3) through Bangladesh, and (3) over the Tibetan plateau and Himalayas.
This is almost the same distance as flying to Beijing, the flight's original destination. It would also explain possible military radar pings west of the Malay Peninsula.
Commercial flights avoid the Himalayas because they can't reduce altitude in case of engine failure or cabin decompression, low priorities for a hijacker.