[tredre3]

> It's because he's Muslim huh?

The backhanded racism would have went: muslim + pilot = crash in building, not disappear in ocean. So clearly you're just trying to have a hot take here.

> If it really was a suicide drop into the ocean...why wait 8 hours...just...do it...

Even though someone might conclude that death is the preferable outcome for their situation, it doesn't mean that they won't experience an insane amount of anxiety and spend a long time reconsidering or even trying to talk themselves out of it just before pulling the trigger so to speak. They're humans until the end, with human reactions, you know?

[hungryforcodes]

OK, but this is just theorizing -- you don't really know. It's a very good question that doesn't have an answer really.

[ipython]

There are several examples of “ghost planes” where the flight crew is unconscious due to the cabin depressurizing. The flight then continues on autopilot until the fuel is exhausted. By the way, one of the initial side effects of hypoxia is euphoria. You can find examples on YouTube and there is a great video by 74gear demonstrating this - see https://youtu.be/nz5d4Q_ykFc.

Depressurizing the cabin to incapacitate the other crew is definitely a possibility and I think the leading theory for what happened. Like you say there is no proof either way - so we may never know with 100% certainty.