[TexasGator]

“The pilot and copilot were devout Muslims.”

Islam is the official religion of Malaysia.

“Then the plane climbed to 45,000 feet - 2000 feet above the aircraft’s service ceiling - this could only have been to kill all the passengers. There is no other reason to do this.”

Taking it to FL450 achieved nothing. Systems could still function at FL450 although the plane would be less capable of stable flight.

“This plane was handled masterfully the entire time - whoever did this was a fox, not a fool.”

Not sure about that. It could have stalled at FL450 which caused the sudden descent.

[pajama pundit]

Agree with you. Also, you can just as easily incapacitate the passengers at 35,000 as you can at 45,000 by depressurizing. If the airlines are still using oxygen generators then they will last about 15 minutes, but if the pilot turns off the cabin heat also then the extreme cold will incapacitate as well.