Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
Accident investigation protocol says that only the lead investigating authority (here the NTSC/KNKT) will release data such as FDR/CVR recordings, if deemed appropriate.
The US NTSB (not FAA), representing the state of manufacture will have the status of an accredited representative to the investigation, and can choose in turn to consult other parties (Boeing, GE, FAA, etc), but none of those parties will release data independently.
Agreed, of course. But do you think / know that the recent statements about the 737 Max and MCAS by Boeing and the FAA are definitely based on (even non-public) recovered FDR data?
My point is that a) we don't know that they were, and b) it's possible to argue that they had no need to be so based. (Of course if the LionAir a/c had not been lost in what little we know of the circumstances, the Boeing/FAA stuff would likely not have appeared so promptly in the form it did, even if they concluded, from past events, that operators were not sufficiently aware of what MCAS can do in manual flight when the sensor data is unreliable).