(mods may wish to move to Accidents and Close Calls or even – dare I suggest – make it a sticky there)
Always a controversial topic on PPRuNe is the question of whether ADS-B and Mode S data can add to the understanding of an accident or incident - viz the recent Maui, Austin and JFK events.
A recently-published accident investigation report from NSIA, the Norwegian AIB, discusses in detail the contribution (and caveats/limitations) of using such data and is well worth a read. It concerns an accident to a GA twin (Diamond DA42), so not equipped with either FDR or CVR, and uses data from both the ANSP (Avinor) and FlightRadar24.
Here’s an extract describing the philosophy:
As the wreckage, crash site and witnesses provided little information, the NSIA decided to investigate whether a better understanding of the flight could be gained by compiling Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and Enhanced Surveillance (EHS) data. Data were obtained both from Avinor and from Flightradar24. The data were validated and obvious errors excluded. Data from different sources were corrected to enable comparison. The data were then collated and presented graphically. Based on the data, it has been possible to gain a better understanding of the flight up until the time when it was 417 ft above the terrain. The purpose was primarily to understand the airplane’s movements when the crew lost control and it subsequently fell to the ground. A further description of the methods used is given in Appendix A.
Link:
Air accident 8 km west-northwest of Larvik in Vestfold og Telemark County, Norway on 23 November 2021 involving a Diamond DA 42 NG, LN-PFM, operated by Pilot Flight Academy