99-10-29          0730    Headed out to CANMET this morning as their AES is back on line.  Larry FOGG and John BERRY present, and David COLSON arrived just before noon.  Called Halifax (Susan) to pass on the message about the exhibit boxes being at the airport.  Later spoke with Vic GORMAN and he is to speak with Andy to confirm the Air Flow trip, and then to arrange for a TAN for me.  I can make the flight arrangements from here by contacting Lee GARSTANG to get the flight numbers, etc., then contacting GTS.

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At about 1230, Vic GORMAN called back to say that they had retrieved the exhibits and were placing them in cold storage.  He also advised that he, Andy LATHEM & Brian LONDON had discussed the airflow tests for about an hour.  He had spoken with John GARSTANG and Larry VANCE who both felt that it was not required that we attend.  Boeing is taking the video and they feel that we will be able to get a copy of it later.  Andy is concerned about civil litigation should anything adverse happen and feels that the expense is not justified.  I am not convinced that this is the best avenue to follow.  If this goes criminal, then we have to call on TSB or Boeing to enter the tapes.  TSB will have no one who can dedicate their time during the flight to monitoring the equipment and its operation.  Boeing has been against the flight all along and now they are being placed in control of recording it.  Could be a wasted effort if the video doesn't turn out.

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Had a short conversation with Larry FOGG.  He is a bit frustrated with the system saying that, with regards to the Seattle wires, we should be looking at all of the wires, even the drag wires as they were formed in the same process.  But it seems that little if any of the smoke elements are showing up from those shorts generated in that smoke.  However, he made the comment that what he was particularly interested in was the aircraft wires and what was contained in the beads, and not necessarily the time line, but was there anything else present that was not supposed to be there.  He explained his position by adding, such as an incendiary device.  This is the first time that he has spoken like this to me.  He even suggested that there were other things that should be examined, including frame pieces and the aluminium drops (GARSTANG has previously mentioned about these).  But if FOGG is speaking out loud about this, then for sure Boeing is watching it very carefully.  It would seem that our management are the only ones who do not want to look in that direction.  Even FOOT mentioned in Zurich that he has not ruled this out as a possible cause.

(Clarification:)  Larry Fogg and John Berry were the Boeing representatives, both being accident investigators for the company, while David Colson represented Hollingsead (in-flight entertainment system).

As for Gorman's comments about the air flow meeting, this would become a very contentious issue between Lathem, Gorman, and me.  Lathem's concern over civil litigation was a red herring since the test flight was being organized by the TSB, no less an agent of the Canadian Government than was the RCMP.

I now feel that Lathem was beginning to realize that I was becoming too knowledgeable about the equipment and material from the burnt area and the function of each piece.  This knowledge is fundamental in developing an expertise regarding the cause of the fire.