Frailty, Contrition, and Litigation
Quote from Me Myself:
Lemurian... Where on earth do you see anti an AF and anti Airbus plot on this thread ??
[Unquote]
As a non-French retired A320 driver, who flew the aeroplane by choice for 14 years - from its introduction into service (Spring 1988) - I have to say that the above tirade against the Zieglers sounds very much like an attempt to discredit French aviation in general, and the Franco-German Airbus design ethos in particular.
And it appears that sekant is of a similar opinion.
As for the merits (or otherwise) of these attacks, I think we should remind ourselves that, in every field of human endeavour, human frailty eventually leads to tragedy of one kind or another. The problem with calling us humans to account for genuine mistakes in a court of law is that the whole truth is unlikely to emerge, and the slightest hint of contrition becomes a stick for ambitious lawyers to beat us with. That feature of the human condition applies to all parties concerned in the endeavour; not just the chief designer.
Thus, if Monsieur Ziegler has indeed been guilty of arrogance in the past, we should not hold our breath while waiting for him to recant.