Cut from .Mr
Dog's post.
the ATC could not in their wildest dreams, have imagined they might need to watch for this type of error at night with an unlit runway!! …. and IMHO they were being completely reasonable in assuming they could perform other tasks in the interim!
I have looked at all the posts about this tragic accident since the first day. Making the assumption that the aircraft was visible, even by its lights alone,
I would have watched, required or not required.
I feel that whatever the ATC guy did or didn't do, he will spend the rest of his life thinking ‘if only'. But. With an airfield that was very quiet, and the take-off of a slippery jet imminent, I would have wanted to watch it go. After 40 years in the industry, I have never grown tired of watching T/O or landings, so for someone that was involved in the movement, it just seems a little strange IMHO to turn away. Again, there is a but.... This could have been one of the few times in his career that he did turn away, some deadline may have taken precedence, only he would be able to answer that. A lot of work is already going into researching the imagery that the pilots were seeing, I guess in time we may be given the time-line and the psychology of the occurrence, but for now it's all guesswork.