1. French government monopoly 2. Captain in control
I am very surprised that there is not more concern in this forum about the fact that French government entities have control over the recovery and analysis of the wreckage. They have already been far too elusive about the mapping and identification of the debris field. I have only seen one rather oblique reference (sorry, can't recall where) to the tail section of the plane, and therefore the CVR and FDR, being in the debris field. If images of the tail section were released, it may create expectations about the condition of the recorders and the likelihood that their data will be intact. It concerns me that those images have not been released and that no statement has been made about the damage or lack of damage to that part of the plane. It leads me to wonder if the French government does not want there to be any expectation about the integrity of the data. In this forum it has been stated that the French court will have control of the recorders as sealed evidence. How do we know this?
Point 2: I have never piloted a powered aircraft but my issue here concerns commonsense rather than piloting skills. When there is an accident there is more often than not some sort of human error involved. As a regular paying passenger I have to say that I have faith in the technology but grave suspicions about the people up front. Many correspondents to this forum will be flight crew and may like to comment on my concerns, which are as follows: to me it is almost inconceivable that a captain would take a nap during the time at which the plane is traversing the tropical convergence zone, where it is known by all that there is elevated risk. Surely commonsense would dictate that the captain take the precaution of being in control at the time. If anyone believes that it is okay for the captain to take a nap during a period of the flight when there is a risk of an upset, doesn't that suggest that some pilots have become far too complacent about their responsibilities?