Would this accident have occured with a fully functioning TOWS but RAT heater CB pulled?
The answer is NO it wouldn't.
Disagree
Posts above show occasions where TOWS have been ignored.
2 systems seem to have "failed". One was deployment of Flaps. One was TOWS. One is critical, one is supplementary...
If the Flaps don't get deployed, we have a major system / SOP failure. TOWS is a supplementary system designed to "trap" the first failure, and usually would do. However, we cannot rely on it doing so, nor blame the TOWS for the accident. Even if the TOWS had been tested, it might have had a failure mode that allowed it to say it passed, and/or failed later on.
The recommendations of the inquiry, need IMHO, to 90%+ concentrate on stopping an aircraft getting to a takeoff roll without Flaps deployed. If an aircraft starts rolling, then aborts due no Flaps + TOWS - that is not the safety system working "correctly". It just a **** lucky near accident
NoD