To fly a straight line to the Eugene VORTAC, all the airline crew would have to do is tune in the Eugene VORTAC, center the needle to indicate that they were flying "TO" the VORTAC, and then fly that heading.
Exactly my point. proof of them having been tuned to Battleground vs Eugene when they decided to divert from Portland and turn 15 degree's at Kelso doesn't make sense. they were still tuned to BTG 23 miles DME past the VOR. should of been tuned to Eugene 112.9 at the decision of routing around Portland clear up at Kelso. this sounds consistent with a pilot wanting to stay on V-23 per the agreement prior to takeoff.
I don't think the path was a secret and were given the sky but did decide on V-23. sure, they could of deviated from any location given the fact they had the sky. the totality of evidence doesn't support that.
The further you push the plane west of V-23 parallel with Kelso the closer it gets to Hillsboro and no longer becomes east of it. the plane pretty much has to deviate 15 degree's from centerline of V23 to get east of Hillsboro. airways are 8 miles wide and not 10. it puts it 13 nautical miles plus away from V-23 in certain locations. it also starts to intrude into another airway west of the Columbia. in order to keep a good straight line would be tuning into Eugene. no mention of Eugene until they were almost on top of it.
The map vs FDR should have them scratching there heads because it wouldn't look anything like the map. I'm pretty sure time was on the FDR and obviously direction/heading. the failure of any turns should cause a red flag with the map. I believe they got all the maps/plates needed for the flight. I recall them asking if they got them...
