First: If the aircraft did go south (based on the BFO data) and also the C-Channel BFO value for 18:40 UTC is valid, indicating that the aircraft was travelling then in the same general direction as it was at 19:41, 20:41…, then there would not have been time between the last radar detection at 18:22 and that C-Channel BFO time (18:40) for the aircraft to reach the Andamans and then have turned south: I think. Maybe someone could check on that. 

Second: On the other hand, if the belief that the BFO data indicate that the aircraft went south is wrong, and in fact it went northwards (and I would refine that to NW), then perhaps the BFOs are consistent both in that sense (i.e. travelling northwards from 18:40…00:11 UTC) and also with a passage over the Andamans. 

Third: Inmarsat interpreted the BFO values around 18:25 UTC as indicating a turn (see the BFO graph of 23rd March), whereas since the data release some days ago it has become apparent that there was a system reboot at that time, which has been interpreted here as resulting in BFO values that are invalid, being produced as the system settled down after the reboot, and thus NOT indicative of a turn; but since Inmarsat has not publicly withdrawn its suggestion of a turn, we are left hanging on that one. Unlike on this website, too many people involved on the official side are unwilling to say simply: “We were incorrect; here is the truth; now let’s move ahead.” 

Fourth: There are no radar data indicating the aircraft ever to have been over the Andamans. Where was the last radar detection, that at 18:22 UTC? I do not see it being over the Andamans. Any speculation regarding the route taken immediately after that time is indeed speculation, although a good guess (of course) would be that it continued on the course it had taken (from the radar map) over the past ten minutes. 

The man’s craft is PR, and I am sure he is good at it. Respect. But scientists like me wear t-shirts and shorts rather than suits and ties because we are interested in facts, not eyewash.