"Given the region, is it plausible that MA370 landed for a quick...

"Given the region, is it plausible that MA370 landed for a quick partial refuel sometime after going awol so as to be airbourne for longer than considered possible and thus beyond the area that no doubt will be scoured over the weeks ahead?"


This is highly unlikely PD as a 777 needs a tarmac of size, otherwise it will just sink into the surface and cartwheel itself into a fireball. Take a look at what happens to large aircraft when they run off the tarmac. If they were to land on a highway, the same destruction would happen.

The only place they could possibly be in one piece without the authorities knowing where they are would be a disused, but intact military airstrip.

Australia has sent an Orion to an undisclosed island in the Indian Ocean in search of the plane. You can bet your bottom dollar it is a disused or rarely used military landing strip.

Given that the Indian Ocean is poorly covered in terms of radar, then my guess is that is where hijackers would take it if the intention was to use it as a missile sometime in the future.