CP, #1558
1. ‘They were in a CB’’. There is no evidence that the aircraft was in a CB; the crew had seen and planned / turned to deviate around weather.
Yes, but is what they saw in front of them what was actually there?
PEI, wouldn't it be true to state that there is no evidence that they weren't in, or in the vicinity of, either a CB or a significant vertical development? I may be stretching the boundary of inference here, but there has been ample anecdotal evidence of possible "blind spots" with Wx radar, from people who operate and operated them. The possibility of locale specific weather/metro surprise remains open, and may remain an unknown forever. The metro conditions along the flight path route were sketched out by Mr. Vasquez. What was locally experienced remains unclear, beyond the BEA release of some conversation about turbulence before the event.
2. ‘Air data ice protection on’. A feature of pitot blocking due to ice crystals is that there has to be a heated surface on which some crystals can accumulate / melt. The water becomes the glue for other crystals to build up on, or the water ice mix can stabilize around freezing and block the pipes / vents.
Gonna save that one in a text file.
