Originally Posted by
DozyWannabe
jcjeant:
The way I read it the BEA were actually a bit annoyed at Airbus for jumping the gun, so they released the "note" to calm the press, which naturally went into something of a feeding frenzy as soon as the recorders made it back to Paris. You *could* read it as the BEA supporting Airbus's statement, but alternatively it could simply mean that while Airbus jumped the gun, their information was solid.
Can someone provide reference where Airbus actually said the plane was not at fault ?
All I have / recall is Airbus release (I believe approved by BEA) that no action was required for 330 operators
yet - on the basis of analysis of the data at that point. That got turned by the media into "plane not at fault", along with other leaks leading to headlines like "no pilot in the cockpit" and other idiocy. BEA release was to stamp on the media leak/bulls**t fest - which it laregly did.
AFAICS neither Airbus or BEA can possibly come out and say the plane wasn't at fault - because the pitots (brand / model) were (and still are) held to be at fault.
Airbus might not have built the pitots, but they approved them for the a/c (and maybe because they are French...), so they are on the hook. The fact that they advised AF to replace them 2yrs before the crash, and AF blocked it,
may get Airbus back off the hook (certainly doesn't make AF look good)
but the plane is clearly still part of the cause. And that is before we even get into any possible human factors issues in the control system design, warnings systems, THS etc.