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Old 23rd Jan 2014, 00:49
  #353 (permalink)  
DozyWannabe
 
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Originally Posted by Chris Scott
If one believed beyond any doubt that the BEA carried out a wide-ranging, impartial, and fully-informed investigation, that would indeed be a reasonable inference. But it would cut no ice with the BEA's detractors, and the bureau itself is unlikely - if you'll forgive the understatement - to enter into discussion on any alleged deficiencies.
The issue as I see it is that most if not all of those "detractors" resort to obfuscating and, on occasion, outright misrepresenting the contents of the report in order to support their arguments. At the time, the lawyers representing Capt. Asseline and the SNPL union embarked on an almost unprecedented campaign to muddy the waters, briefing journalists with any allegation they could muster.

The ultimate outcome of this scorched-earth approach is that even people who are knowledgeable on the subject are frequently misinformed. I still hear talk of "the computer thought it was landing", "the autopilot was in command when it crashed" and "the report blamed the pilot" among other things - most of which, like those examples, are completely and demonstrably untrue.

Alternatively, we can all accept the findings and suspend further discussion...
If only...!

Seriously though, there's no such thing as a perfect report in the real world - but in my opinion the BEA performed an investigation that was at least as "wide-ranging, impartial, and fully-informed" as could be expected.
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