tim...
the investigators were able to determine that No.2 (the centre) engine was shut down because it was controlled by FADEC - full authority digital engine control. There was a memory chip in this computer which showed that this engine was shut down at a speed of 227Kts and an altitude of 1800Ft. By correlating this information with the raw data radar trace they were able to fix the time of shutdown.
I watched the television programme with great interest having unfortunately missed the first 10 minutes. The first thing I saw was a film of Swissair pilots holding hands over the throttles during take-off so that either could initiate an abandon - absolute rubbish! The reporting was sometimes accurate but irritated me by presenting speculation as fact, as is common with today's sensationalism driven media.
Nobody will ever know what happened in the last six minutes of the flight. Most of the recovered wreckage pieces from the forward fuselage are no larger than a coin.
It is known that the copilot was in his seat at impact and that the captain's seat was run to the aft outboard position, from which one could only assume that he had left his seat. He might have simply moved it aft in order to get a better view of the overhead panel.
The accident was caused by unqualified people making criminally incompetent modifications to the aircraft to the orders of useless managers. The crew did not stand a chance.