I have no knowledge of the MD and the effect of the A/G sensor, but it appears that the a/c was 'flyable' when stuck in the air mode. It appears the possible incorrect A/G state is not obvious on his a/c. IF the crash was caused by failure to configure correctly for take-off, then in my opinion it was not the MEL, the engineers or the TOWS failure that CAUSED the crash. That is a pilot's view. I know there will be howls of protest from the safety psychologists.
Certainly, having had an A/G stuck in 'Air' mode on landing in a 737-400 (Classic), it would be instantly obvious to crew that all was not right on that type.
I fully support the call for a 'look' at the MEL philosophy to ensure that possible causes for symptoms are checked/trapped in the 'comfort' of the manufacturer's tech office to take need to diagnose complicated systems away from the LAE, and I can easily see now how LAEs will be MOST reluctant to 'quick fix/dispatch' in future which will impact on airline programmes. I cannot, however, see how the possible dispatch of this a/c in 'Air mode' was a direct cause of the accident.
As we have seen, and know, it is by no means impossible for a fully serviceable and sounding TOWS to be ignored by crews, so we need to add this to Justme's list, making 4?
"At least it adds another layer to the cheese. Now 3 things would have to fail:
-The pilots missing a configuration error.
-The TOWS failing around that same time and not having been noticed on daily tests.
-The pilots missing the pre-takeoff TOWS test revealing the TOWS have become inop or the TOWS failing exactly in the few minutes (instead of up to 24h) between the check and the takeoff."