Re-Heat #1544
I am sorry for not making myself clear. I am not currently suggesting that the plane be grounded - quite the reverse.
However, the recovery of the aircraft largely intact and 5 months of investigation seems to make the decision not to ground the aircraft more difficult. This is because the tentative dismissal in the several months since the crash of the extraneous factors that would typically cloud the issue (eg crew performance, operation outside flight envelope, component failure, out of spec fuel, etc) makes it more likely that the flaw/fluke is a design issue.
Again, I apologise to you for not making myself clear but I strongly agree with you that a risk based assessment is the only sensible way to proceed.
Nevertheless I believe what would be imprudent conduct as you succinctly point out without evidence may become less imprudent (or even become prudent) if hard evidence seems to eliminate the other obvious possible causes, notwithstanding the causal mechanism of the flaw appears improbable and is not understood.
Last edited by dxzh; 23rd Jul 2008 at 08:35.