Originally Posted by
Sliceback
I was thinking about this today. If you go into the mx pages on the FMC there's a LOT of data that's tracked. How much is down-loaded/transmitted IDK. Touch the yoke and the flight control inputs change. I do know that they get alerts of divergent performance before the pilots know anything.
If an obvious safety risk was transmitted you'd think the operators would have been notified ASAP. It doesn't seem like that has happened? So either no data was sent OR the data was normal.
So if there's been no Emergency AD, or similar requirement made, is the transmitted data/FDR not showing an unknown/unexpected event/risk? Are we back to Ockham's Razor - what's the easiest way to lose thrust? Was that accidental or deliberate?
Assuming...
1.No data transmitted. Good working assumption for technical reasons (worth noting that Boeing or another MRO contractor might also be in direct receipt of such data).
And
2.That the FDR functioned correctly and the data is readily retrieved.
Given that, the longer the delay for the prelim info to hit the street, the more one tends to suspect that the folks in control (AAIB in this case) may be concerned about optics which reflect poorly on their equities. Not suggesting they're fabricating info or planning a coverup, just that they need to tread lightly for local political sensitivities and perhaps so some folks can get their ducks lined up before it hits the fan.
I would think the FDR data could be downloaded by now barring any tech issues. I'll give them a couple more days before I start to wonder if they're slow-rolling due for politics.
I don't think they would slow roll to protect the equities of boeing, US NTSB, etc. In fact if it was an apparent boeing issue, I'd expect technical directives to start flying and maybe even groundings... too much liability to sit on that sort of info.