Yes Dave, back then it was in no one's remit, nor in the FOM/SOP/SEP nor CC manuals to go tell the FD something like that...
Capt Kevin Hunt was a approachable man and pragmatic too.
I did not know any of the CC nor the FO but Kevin was a really kind and lovely man who I had known and worked with for many years since 1977 - he was not rostered that flight (BD92) but stepped in to swap with a colleague who wanted the Sunday off.
I'm ex BMA LHR D/O as you may know - At our LHR reunion (class of 77/78) 2 years ago in 2016 the talk then still was very much about BD92.
Many of my old ground colleagues worked with EPIC and for many months after with all the relatives and survivors - a harrowing time and task for all at the Heathrow Care centre and BD emergency response - They were terrible hours days and weeks- life defining for all involved and all were affected.
After a day in Epic, My pal who was supervisor of BD LHR baggage services was despatched to Donington to meet up with the Police who took him to their Training HQ. - shown to a Gym which was full of belongings and luggage that was being brought in from the crash site. One by one he went through every item including coats and handbags, the personal belongings in the handbags made it desperately real and sad and for 5 days he worked with relatives and Police to repatriate belongings. To this day he will struggle with the simple request to get something out of a handbag and will never forget the smell of damp muddy belongings and aviation fuel.
Over the following weeks he would meet some of the relatives as they passed thru the Heathrow care center run by my colleagues and again at the Memorial Service held in Belfast which is his hometown.
Now we go back to those weeks in January 89 when all did the best they could to make things better. They all cared at the time and still do.
I remember talking to the traffic officer/flight dispatcher about the flight a few years later, I think he re-trained to work in air traffic control/Tower?
His stories about accepting late passengers at the gate as we did back then (LRP's/LMC's) on that evening, made my hairs stand on end.
I also knew the handling agent at Tenerife in 1977 (He handled us too there) who found the last 4 late pax (Mum Dad and 2 kids) for the KLM 747 that were missing and wandering in the terminal and he rushed them out to re-board the Jumbo for Las Palmas...