a TH/aviation expert on CNN earlier this morning said he's not confident about the reported climb to 45,000 followed by a rapid descent to 20,000/something (?)
he said the accuracy of the elevation readings decreases with distance from the _ _ _ _ _ (radar installation, maybe?) sorry, it was way too early for me to be up and doing. I don't recall his exact terminology but he said that he doesn't believe it's entirely accurate to assert that the plane climbed that high, because the descent from < - - to - - > should have destroyed the plane