Originally Posted by
tdracer
Something I'm finding very disturbing about this thread is the suggestion/implication that the NTSB and FAA are incompetent or corrupt.
Although it hasn't been specifically referred to on this thread, there does exist a group of pilots - mostly of a certain generation - who retain a degree of hostility to the NTSB because of the TWA "Hoot" Gibson case. The NTSB made a judgement call there that with 20/20 hindsight could be considered shaky at best - however not only was this almost 35 years ago, but also the call was made due to a lack of hard data because of the primitive nature of the FDR. As has been pointed out, the FDR on AA587 was much more advanced and recorded the relevant parameters separately.
Putting that case in historical context, it can be seen almost as an aberration - as in accident reports both prior and following, the NTSB (post-separation from the FAA) showed no significant bias towards one party or the other.
Much the same could be said of the French BEA and AF296 (except in that case they made the correct call, but it didn't end the controversy).