Boeing instructor: plane on autopilot for hours
A former Boeing instructor pilot says data analysis showing the plane flew far out over the southern Indian Ocean is very credible. H says, it indicates that the plane was set on autopilot and continued to fly on a given heading until its fuel ran out. According to the instructor:
[The autopilot] doesn’t know anything except, ‘maintain this heading.’ Once the fuel was exhausted the plane would become destabilized and crash without a skilled pilot at the controls.