Nick, CliveL, Chris Scott.
There is evidence the Bogie was rotating in its horizontal plane. That is clear from the images in BEA.
BEA describes such horizontal articulation as an abnormal.
If in evidence (it is), and also an abnormal, we can assume there is a possibility it played a part in the tragic crash.
Unlike the strip, the condition for wobble was present at take off, iow, part of the compromised airframe, not a foreign piece of debris. The legal implications of presence of inherent vunerability as opposed to accidental accumulation of debris are clear.
"Had no effect..." "Played no part in the crash...". "The lack of the spacer was not relevant..."
All demonstrably untrue statements.
Can the misalignment of the left main landing gear be explained in ways that do not involve the missing spacer? Certainly, but those postulates do not eliminate questions that seriously compromise any legal action Air France may entertain against Continental (United/Continental)......
thoughts?
CliveL.... The side loads provided by the misaligned bogie are apparent in the photography. What affect?
There are clues in the record of ruddering by the Captain. Nx would be conclusive, but Captain's inputs as explained in the text of the BEA seem tentative, given the extent of the excursion, and irregular, though the heading seemed consistently left in direction and rate.
There is a possiblity the bogie played a part in the Captain's perception of yaw? The a/c was not answering the right ruddering, yet three times he returned the pedals to neutral? Once he returned to 10 right, from 20?
Last edited by Lyman; 18th Dec 2012 at 20:46.