I am trying to contribute to this thread and keep current. It is extremely important to keep this accident in public view; as one who is familiar with the mission and method of investigative bodies ennabled by Public Authority, I can provide an insight into how they work. I have been a member, a Director, and an investigator for many different bodies, though all in my native tongue, and Politic.
My memory of ACARS is that both PFDs crapped out, and IRU is dependent on AD, and that at a critical time in the sequence, the pilots had not a clue about Pitch, nor did they about Power, and this at a time when all automatics had left. In leaving, they ignorantly displayed their mischief on the panel, taking up crucial time for the pilots to catch up with real behaviour.of their aircraft. If the auto is inop and unavailable, I frankly do not give a fig about troubleshooting the system ahead of maintaining (or recovering) controlled flight with pilotage relative to a manually controlled aircraft.
That is my background, and my motive, along with trying to defend this flight crew against well financed and powerful story tellers who have taken advantage of dead pilots before. What is your purpose here?
bear