It's no fun being first sometimes.
Zoner,
Well, you shouldn't have been!
In the UK, ANY licenced aerodrome would have had a proper surfacce inspection carried out prior to the first movement, not only big places but small GA fields, too. Even thought we're open H24, we count 30 mins without a movement during the night as a cue for an inspection and of course we do a 'first light' inspection, too.
I'd have thought it would have been in the interests of the aerodrome management at Detriot to ensure that the manoeuvring area is fit for use. I'm not suggesting that Dusseldorf wasn't fit for use.
Sadly, Dusseldorf is no stranger to disaster. A major fire in the Terminal building a few years ago led to much loss of life and was a big wake-up call for the rest of us.
'Nah, couldn't happen here' we thought. Then we looked closer and found that there were big improvements that we could make, which we have done.
Cheers,
TheOddOne