To all you armchair quarterbacks, something to think about.....
Was the aeroplane AT the limit weight? if not there is some margin built in...typically the aeroplanes depart a couple of tonnes below the calculated limit weight because of the allowances made at the planning stage....
Secondly, in terms of obstacle clearance, there are no significant obstacles off Runway 23 at Adelaide....
Thirdly, where do you draw the line... If you were taking off from edwards Air force base with a 10 mile long runway would you always go full length in case you reject? NO? Well where do you draw the line. The people on the day made a decision based on a number of factors, the primary one being what the analysis manual said... from memory the D intersection gives you about 2300 m (I stand to be corrected though), does that mean that you would never take off from Cooly at 2000 odd metres? Or runway 27 in Melbourne - I assume that you always take full length 34 or 16 because you MIGHT need it, even though the analysis manual says 27 is OK for your operation.
Flying aeroplanes is an exercise in risk management, we as pilots make considered decisions everyday, and we make those decisions based (mostly) on sound advice from manuals, training etc.
PS grange Guzzler, people in glass houses spring to mind - without knowledge of what was going on you are making an uninformed criticism of the crew.
You are not an aviation consultant and or television commentator by any chance are you?