Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
The NTSB, as a party to the investigation, had (not unreasonably) been pressing for the recorders to go to the USA, but despite their fierce independence from the FAA, it would seem that the latter's decision to allow continued operation of the Max in the USA (not to mention Trump's comments) may have had a bearing on the decision.
It is not unreasonable to believe that given a choice, the Ethiopian authorities would rather an outcome that showed a fault with a foreign made aircraft than a problem with their own carrier’s training or maintenance.
Given that MAXs are being grounded like dominoes around the world, and the FAA is rightly or wrongly, being perceived as putting US commercial interests before safety, no one should be surprised at the decision to send the boxes to BEA or the NTSB.