Cockpit access to satellite radar
My question is whether pilots have access in the cockpit to IR radar images of the type that are available from NOAA or other govt/commercial providers. From the analysis of the weather at the time of the incident (available within this thread) it seems that the AF pilots could easily have diverted around the cells that they entered, but maybe their weather avoidance radar malfunctioned or did not show them the "big picture". Seems like having the most recent satellite radar onboard would be very helpful for choosing the path of least weather resistance.