Regarding FDR data and NTSB Public Dockets.
While the AA 587 NTSB Hearing was in progress, the material available on-line at the NTSB was labeled (apparently very carefully) “Exhibits from the Public Docket”.
One of the on-line documents was
---- Quote ---
168199 Sep 30, 2002 Flight Data Recorder 10 - Flight Data Recorder Group Chairman's Solid State Flight Data Recorder Factual Report
---- End quote ---
The last words in this document were:
---- Quote ---
Enclosures:
Attachment I: Flight Data Recorder Parameter Listing Sorted By Word Location
Attachment II: Selected Flight Data Recorder Data Plotted (8 Plots Total)
Attachment III: Flight Data Recorder Data in Comma Delimited (CSV) Format Files for the
Following:
• FDR Data Plotted in Attachment II
• .GMT hours., .GMT minutes. and .GMT seconds.
---- End quote ---
However, these “Enclosures” were (and still are) not on-line.
Aviation Week and Space Technology printed one graph of FDR data in their report on the hearings one week later, and also made the graph available on-line. So the data had been released but the NTSB chose not to put it on-line.
In contrast, all the FDR data listed above as being in the “Enclosures” is on the AA 587 NTSB CD-ROM available free-of-charge from the NTSB, including all the digital data as zip-files, so the word “from” in “Exhibits from the Public Docket”, noted above, is significant.
Maybe there is a NTSB CD-ROM disc available for AS 261 with more info?
The flight reconstruction based on the AS 261 FDR traces is on-line at the NTSB site, so I have difficulty believing that the FDR data is being disputed. But I don’t know.
Cheers,
