Way back (P25 of the original thread) I said I did not have a major issue with the decision to continue. Leaving aside the FAA/CAA ding-dong, it was NOT unsafe, but I DO think it was unwise. Just 'cos the book says you CAN does not mean you MUST. I don't think our dispatch would have allowed it to happen, mind you, but if it had, the Captain would have been with me asap 'helping' me with his report!
This particular question I posed has not been addressed by anyone, in BA or outside:
"2) At some point, it became apparent that the aircraft was short of fuel for its planned destination, LHR. It subsequently became 'short of fuel' for its diversion airfield, MAN, such that a go-round was not possible, and there appeared to be some fuel in the tanks which was not 'easily useable'.
The question is, how and when did this happen? For a MAYDAY to be declared, following a PAN, things must have gone bad fairly quickly, otherwise a MAYDAY would have gone out first. Was the fuel shortage 'unknown' earlier due to -
a failure in the Boeing information system,
in the BA training system,
in the aircraft systems themselves, or
in the crew's lack of understanding of the aircraft system?"
I'm going to crank up the fun and ask -
3) Was the Captain one of those 'BA wonders' I have heard about with a foot in the management career chain?
4) Was the decision to continue unanimous on the flight deck (heavy crew and all)?