Originally Posted by
Lyman
BTSC took off with an inop Thrust reverser on #2. It was legal, but reduced her max op weight by 2.5%.
No, the reverser motor (cause of inop) was replaced before departure, by request of the crew after the plane change (BTSC was the reserve aircraft for that day).
Originally Posted by
Lyman
What do you make of the "black smoke" re: the "tyre burst"?
I would associate black smoke with unburned (neat) fuel out the nozzle?
No, the testimonies (in french) are pretty clear. Black (puff of) smoke, located at/near the U/C, not at/near the nozzle.
Shortly
after that, fire begun with a small flame at first (said the firefighters). Then, the big flame we all saw with, then, black smoke (yes again), this time from uncomplete burn of the leaked kerozen. But there is no confusion possible for a french reader.