Regarding this message :
2:14:20 FLR/FR090601
0213 22833406AFS 1,,,,,,,FMGEC1(1CA1),INTERMITTENT
BEA reported :
In any event, the effects of such a message could only be the disengagement of automatic systems, whose associated cockpit effect messages had already been transmitted at 2 h 10
To this should be added, from the same report, that a cockpit effect will only appear once in a given CFR/PFR. What we deal with is a CFR (Current Flight Report). I take it then that a A/P OFF message will not be repeated, since it was sent around 0210.
It is unfortunate that BEA would only give this item of information in that particular, obscure way. They essentially repeat themselves. However, reading between their lines would mean that A/P went OFF again without an ACARS message being transmitted (already done). So A/P had to be turned ON after 0210.
Another information hidden in this sentence from the report is that the list of cockpit effects produced by this failure is included in (but not necessarily identical to) all cockpit effects already sent from 0210.
In addition, would AFS catch a fault in FMGEC if it was still OFF (kicked off by the system itself). In other words, does the AFS as identifier positively ascertain that A/P was ON at the time the message was concatenated ?
My answer is yes, through all accumulated knowledge, but I do not have a positive answer, officially written in a book. I believe yes, it fits with all the rest (and I mean
all the rest), but then... I am not defending
that case in a court of Law, lucky me.
I would have expected BEA to answer that particular question, one way or the other. I guess they will do it now, and prove me wrong...
(Simultaneous with henra)