Re: The information in the above post
>For those who haven't yet got to page 182 of the 12Mb download, the AAIB comments make interesting reading. Doesn't sound like cricket to me:<
Both the AAIB and the BEA investigators were thwarted by the French Judicial authorities, the difference being that the BEA had to adapt to the interference in order to perform their function, while as stated above, the AAIB refused to work outside ICAO annex 13 rules. Incidently both countries were signatories accepting these rules, however that doesn't mean that an individual countries judicial authority can't overrule them when they see fit. That's kind of the way with CVR disclosures as well.
In my opinion, I feel that a thorough investigation has been significantly lessened towards meeting the objective of furthering accident prevention, when a jusdicial authority takes precdence in finding blame rather than causal factors.
The good that came out of this investigation was the willingness of the DGAC/CAA to take airworthiness action prior to the issuance of the faulted report. I can only hope that Continental will prevail in its protestations and any court actions.