[tom_morrow]

one theory is that the aircraft was still climbing towards cruise altitude when all control was lost.

a stall, a recovery, and a randomly meandering flight followed.

[TillE]

It wasn't random, though. It was flying to waypoints.

[tom_morrow]

maybe.

adjectives used of the radar data: "inaccurate", "undisclosed".

adjectives used of the flight path: "erratic", "uneven", "zigzagging".

waypoints are thick as thieves, the odds of a flock of birds not hitting three of them are small.

...plus hitting exactly those waypoints makes no sense: the middle zig should have been skipped as superfluous.

[dhimes]

waypoints are thick as thieves, the odds of a flock of birds not hitting three of them are small.

Really? On a plane? On my boat they're typically within a few meters.