Originally Posted by tdracer
I've yet to see anything that suggests the crew suspected a fuel leak - there's nothing to that effect in the 21.3 report or the preliminary accident report.
I have to agree that the crew did not suspect a fuel leak. That was the reason they were (apparently) blind sided by the fire.
However, a little forward thinking, using a clue that was not on their EICAS, should have given them reason to suspect a fuel leak. The clue was the fuel smell in the cabin that some of the passengers reported in some of the OP links.
If the majority of current pilots do not think they could have drawn that conclusion, then there is probably a training issue that needs addressing.
Of course, the clue is NA to the 787
.