Lurking around the thread since its start and reading the later posts, I'm a bit surprised that the consensus opinion appears to equate the ommission to set the flaps and the inop TOWS as equal contributing causes to the accident.
IF (and clearly this is still the subject of the investigation) the crew indeed forgot to set the slats/flaps, then this is the prime and only direct cause of the accident. Setting flaps is a part of basic airmanship, no doubt the investigation will heavily focus on the particular and systemic causes for the crew to have made such a gross error.
The TOWS is a secondary system that while legally required to operate, technically is not essential to fly the aircraft. Had the accident not occurred, possibly the fact that it was inop would never have been revealed. That it did not work can only be considered a contributing cause, certainly not on par with the primary cause.
Comments ?