Nigel - does it matter if the lights were on? (Report states that Airtours say yes, Ryanair say no - who cares?) - point is that due to an error, Ryanair entered a runway which was being used by another aircraft for take-off.
If you look down the runway from 'D' intersection, you can clearly see the threshold of both 06L and 24R. I would have thought that on a clear day with good weather, an A321 belting along would have been obvious - lights or not.
ATC made a human factors error for whatever reason. They happen to pilots, engineers and controllers everyday - we all make them. Whether we like it or not they will continue to happen, which is why there are often several layers of protection included in the various systems to mitigate their effects. None worked effectively on this occasion, except for the MYT crew initiating an abandonment
Ryanair crossed an active runway at an AVERAGE speed of 33kts, what then was the Ryanair's PEAK speed?
They crossed the runway without knowing or without seeing a conflicting aircraft on it's take-off roll.
It would appear that the Ryanair crew listened, but didn't hear, and looked but didn't see.
Could it be that they were distracted as well? Possibly by the pressure that exists for quick turn rounds and on-time performance - he had after all already overtaken the preceding landing aircraft which had vacated the runway previously.
Apparently Ryanair left MAN exactly half an hour later, on schedule, without saying a single word on the R/T regarding the incident. MYT left nearly two hours late.
As an aside, I have heard a rumour (unconfirmed of course!), that the incident wasn't reported to Ryanair by the crew and the first that the company knew about it was when the AAIB phoned them the next morning.
The lesson from this incident is clear. Be aware of what is happening around you and look both ways before crossing the road. If it's good enough for the Tufty Club, it's good enough for me - cos it could be me (or you) next.