Originally Posted by
Dysag
LUALBA posted this morning what purported to be a dispatch from Airbus.
It included:
The data available at this stage of the investigation:
- does not suggest any loss of electrical power supply,
- does not suggest a loss of instrument display.
If this is genuine, it seems they missed an opportunity to clarify (if they know from the ACARS) the serviceability or not of the weather radar. Or do I have to decode the above? i.e. "instrument display" includes the radar?
I think far too much importance is being put on these ACARS messages.
ACARS is not required to be onboard an aircraft. It is a handy feature to have, and can be quite useful, but it is also subject to errors and failure itself. At this point in the investigation, there is no way to know how accurate these messages are.
Just so you all know:
1) Many jet airliners do not have ACARS installed or the airline chooses not use the system at all. (cost factor)
2) Many jet airliners that do have it installed do not have SATCOM capability and the system is useless over water.