Originally Posted by
KenV
Hmmmm. Tens of thousands of pilots are quite "absolute in their belief" that a landing gear failing to extend would be caught before landing. That gear is MUCH more complex, and the consequences of a failed gear MUCH more severe than a folding wingtip.
Similarly, tens of thousands of pilots are quite "absolute in their belief" that an assymetric flap extension would be caught and prevented before aircraft upset. The flap system is MUCH more complex and the consequences of a failed flap extension much more severe than a folding wingtip.
Until the human element is removed, the potential to forget to put the gear down, the wings up or the flaps out exists. I'm not as positive as you that the crew will catch it. Let's hope Boeing's wing fold config monitor is flawless.
I suspect if crews forget anything, it'll be to fold them up after landing and end up whacking things in the gate area.