Originally Posted by
heli1980
..So could an error in the RADALT cause this crash if it was over or under reading?
I wouldn't think so, not on a visual approach. The RADALT is normally "bugged" to trigger an aural and visual warning on attaining the selected reference height, which is the main purpose of its existence. If the crew were following the barometric altitude, and through diversion of attention or whatever missed passing through their intended altitude, and the RADALT had failed or wasn't configured properly, then the holes in the Swiss cheese are starting to line up.
My guess is they were flying a visual approach and just didn't see the water before flying into it. I might have done that once before, but the clue that plugged the holes in the Swiss cheese was the salt spray appearing on the windshield in the pitch dark blackness of night which rapidly focussed my attention. Point being, if I wasn't looking outside, which you're supposed to be doing most of the time during a visual approach, then I wouldn't have noticed the salt spray.