And secondly, also mentioned by several posters, unserviceable or inoperative cockpit weather radar seems to be tolerated by the industry.
That certainly has not been my experience. I think I've perhaps flown twice in 20 years with the radar MEL'ed. I fly mostly widebody long haul so that may be a factor.
At any rate, I doubt you could MEL a radar on an overwater route near the equator.
Considering the number of aircraft in that route leg near that time the comment is ridiculous.
Agreed, and the stuff about looking at the weather on the ground. I glance at it out of SIN but know the reality is WYSIWYG. No matter what the paperwork says be ready for some action in that area. And, sometimes all is quiet.
And, you can see how the retranslation changes the tone of the 'expert's' analysis. He may be a buffoon but there are enough opinions out there that someone will be right. As a pilot, I sincerely hope that the crew did not cause the mishap and did everything right in a losing effort. But I know from many past events that will not always be the case.
I commented earlier on a post that was somehow deleted about how most of these 'consultants' in the U.S. are folks who can't hold a flying job for various reasons like medical, retirement, airline shutdown or getting fired at their flying job. I won't give examples this time.
