Atceng – “low level alarms routinely crying WOLF” Actually not. The Low Fuel sensors have been shown to be the one component that could and can be relied upon – unlike the Fuel Qty sensors which are prone to over reading if/when contaminated.
The Sherriff Principal has it right with his final paragraph:
[515] The central question for the inquiry is why did that happen? The answer is a simple one. Captain Traill ignored the LOW FUEL warnings he received. Had he followed the procedure set down in the Pilot’s Checklist in respect of the LOW FUEL 1 and / or LOW FUEL 2 warnings, the accident would not have happened. Put another way, Captain Traill took a chance that the LOW FUEL warnings he received were erroneous. That was a conscious decision on his part. It was a decision that had fatal consequences for ten people.
The responsibility for the outcome of every flight lies with the aircraft Captain - it's the price of the privilege of the 4 bars on their shoulders.