To Capn Bloggs (your post # 480):
According to first feedback from those who examined the voice recorder, the TAWS was enabled (i.e. its «voice» is heard in the record). By the way, TAWS used in Sukhoi SSJ is T2CAS from Thales/L-3,
AFAIK.
Regarding sightseeing, it looks unlikely. First, Gerry Soejetman refers in his blog to his friend who was onboard the first demo flight that day. That person says that there was no sightseeing, no «pilot bravado», no outstanding maneuvers – just a smooth short flight. Second, the weather conditions were deteriorating at the time of the second demo flight. And if there were no sightseeing at the clear sky conditions before, what reason would be to do it when the weather got worse?
Coming back to the TAWS issue and rough onboard terrain database, I would not line out the situation when the crew was not ignoring the system warnings and followed the instructions, but in reality the situation was worse than predicted by the system, and their unluck was measured in some 20-30-50 meters in altitude on the slope, as seen in photos.
So, IMHO at the moment, «innocent but deadly», as Gerry entitled his article, seems to be an appropriate wording. Hopefully the data recorder would be found to clarify the picture....