Flight path of Oceanic 815

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Planned route of Oceanic 815

Flight path from estimated turnaround position toward Nadi International Airport (NAN/NFFN)

Estimated crash position of Oceanic 815, based upon statements by the pilot and flight attendant.

Main article: Oceanic Flight 815

The planned flight path of Oceanic 815 was from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, California. The major international airports of those cities are Sydney's Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD/YSSY) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX/KLAX).

In "Tabula Rasa", Sayid comments on the flight path:

SAYID: Two days ago we take off from Sydney. We fly along the same north east route every commercial airliner bound for Los Angeles does.

Most of what we know about the flight path of Oceanic 815 is from the dialog of the pilot in Pilot.

PILOT: 6 hours in. Our radio went out, no one could see us. We turned back to land in Fiji, by the time we hit turbulence we were 1000 miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place.

Based upon actual flight paths of airliners from SYD to LAX, six hours of flight time would have placed Oceanic 815 northeast of Fiji.

In The Other 48 Days, tailie flight attendant Cindy Chandler says that the flight time toward Fiji was two hours:

CINDY: Before the crash, the pilot said we'd lost communication; we were turning back. We were flying for two hours in the wrong direction. They don't know where to look.

The new route is just slightly north of the reciprocal of the planned flight path, which is consistent with the pilot's statement that Oceanic 815 turned back to land in Fiji. After two hours of flight, the crash location would be about 350 kilometers to the west of Samoa, a point very near Wallis Island.