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here you go: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/03/15/mh370_the_...

Someone already thought of it! Perfect, thank you.

And a friend just showed me this, which has an interactive map:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/03/where-...

You could land on any hard-packed dirt surface, especially if you weren't too concerned about being able to take off again.

Nothing stopping you doing a rough landing in a vast open area though, is there?

Much as with the maximum altitude ceiling, the numbers the media reports are generally best-practice recommendations that give you a high enough factor of safety.

If you don't plan on taking off again, and don't care much about the landing gear, a skilled pilot could land the plane on a runway shorter than 5000ft.