Originally Posted by
kcboy
I do have sympathy for the crew here.
I think you're missing the point. True, everyone makes mistakes but it's important that we all learn from them to prevent them from occurring again. An ATSB report follows the ICAO Annex 13 mandate where the objective of an investigation is to prevent accidents and incidents, and not to apportion blame or liability.
As a result of the Lexington accident I quoted above, our company implemented a procedure where the intended runway heading for departure is bugged during our pre-flight preparation. Then, when we line up for departure, the captain will say 'runway heading check' and the FO will look to see that the heading bug is pointing in the right direction and say 'check'. A very simple procedure that would have saved the lives lost in Lexington in 2006. I now fly for a different airline, and although it's not in our current SOPs, I still use this as a simple line up check to see if I'm on the correct runway for departure.