If you check on the old Cypriot thread [see Tech Log], you will see my post referring to the press conference, which was held after the re-enactment flight. I think that it proves that the re-enactment was worthwhile. I don’t want to post it here again, as it just takes up too much space.
Also on that thread, in my response to a query from The Hawk who asked ‘what new input’, it might be worth repeating those details here as well.
The new input is that they tested some of their hypotheses in real time, and found that they were implausible, and apparently this was not earlier ascertained in the simulator.
Most particularly among them is the fact that the cabin attendant, Andreas Prodromou, entered the cockpit using the door code (and not an axe!). Further, that he entered the cockpit way prior to any engine flameout; that he took manual control of the plane, and that they still don’t know how he disengaged the autopilot.
They also discovered that setting the pressurization switch to manual in reality really had little or no effect on the cabin pressure. In the final analysis at this point, there was no sudden death at 14000 feet.