(that's being kind, there was fiddling involved)
Apologies for the slightly off-topic nature of this post, but I feel obligated to point out that there is legitimate reason to question the validity of the above quoted statement, in view of past and ongoing opposition to the original findings in that case. I am reluctant to accept this report as being purely factual. There exists sufficient doubt in my mind to justify inserting the word "alleged" between "was" and "fiddling" in the above statement. Just my view, but it appears to me that there was more evidence of system faults than there was of a crew conspiracy to fiddle with the flaps contrary to AFM limitations. Yet the conspiracy theory was accepted as the "official" cause.
The findings in that
report (.PDF) of the TWA 841 727 upset were contested for many years by the crew and their union. Even TWA itself later joined in opposition to the original findings. I wasn't there or party to the original or subsequent non-NTSB investigations, so I cannot say with authority what really caused the upset. "Fiddling" was alleged in that case, yet there were several other cases of upsets on '27s where it was not. A very contentious case where the official findings remain in question to this day. The theory presented in the original report was contested on it's merits in
THIS and
THIS request to the NTSB for reconsideration of the probable cause finding. NTSB denied the requests. It's interesting to note that the board was split on the original finding and on the subsequent requests to re-open the investigation or re-consider the findings. Certainly an interesting read.
Anytime an airframe manufactures's interests stand in opposition to the interests of the flight crews involved following an accident, competing influences might tend to "muddy the waters" of investigative clarity and accuracy. With so much at stake, it's really no surprise that this might be so. One need look no further than the New York A-300 (AA 587?) or the whole B-737 rudder control issue to see what I mean.
Best regards,
Westhawk