IMO, the last few seconds of the CVR doesn't impact the 'why' or 'how' of this accident and is therefore irrelevant to the investigation outcome. Below 4000ft. they were obviously scared and in a state of panic. What would interest me is the time from departure to AP cutoff (dependent on length of the CVR which was reported to be over two hours in Interim Report #3) to answer the following questions:
1) During the early portion of the flight, were standard procedures followed including the mandated checklists, challenge/reply etc?
2) Did they follow all rules/regulations concerning a Sterile Cockpit (or would those apply to an Air France flight outside the U.S.)?
3) How did they use CRM in the early stages of the flight versus the abomination we see in the transcripts of the last 4 minutes?
4) Complete discussions on weather, route diversions, radar etc.
5) Any abnormal 'glitches' with the aircraft earlier in the flight.
6) Leadership by the Captain including delegation of responsibilities and if there was a professional environment in the cockpit or just a laissez-faire attitude.
7) Did the PF have any trouble remembering standard checklists early in the flight?
This is the one place I feel BEA isn't being totally forthcoming. They know these things are vital to the investigation but have refused to put the transcripts from early in the flight into the record. IMO, when you are dealing with an accident where the obvious cause is pilot error caused by poor training, the performance of those pilots earlier in the flight is VERY relevant.
Last edited by PuraVidaTransport; 14th Oct 2011 at 22:37.