OK ladies and gentlemen, can we get back to the topic. Overstress obviously has charm and diplomacy by the bucketload and I thank him for stressing my points to jondc9 in a way that I could never do and I thank jondc9 for taking it in the manner it was intended to be delivered.
Punkalouver, I think that in the absence of a fire warning the crew will take the time to look at all the engine parameters in a situation like the one being discussed. An engine surge which was handled as we are trained to do, 'Thrust Lever - Retard' until the surging stops is not a catastrophic failure of the engine. We have the 'Engine Severe Damage or Separation' checklist for that scenario. We also have the 'Engine Shut Down' checklist for non catastrophic failures or situations as in this one where there was an EGT exceedence.
Signs of N1 and N2 rotation (GE engines) are good indicators that there is something far more serious even if there is no fire warning. Also, if any blades of the engine had been shed then the vibration monitors are useful indicators. If any accessories had gone then there would be other indications. Also, it is possible to get much more detailed information about the condition of the engine than just the basic instrumentation we get on the EFIS and an operator like BA will have the ability to get a lot of information remotely.
So, I don't think that any crew would just shut down an engine after a surge and then continue without a lot more analysis of what actually happened even if some posters on here would like us to believe that that is what happened. Those of us that fly the B744 are aware of what goes on and those that make wild assumptions without a foundation knowledge of the B744 and its systems continue to make comments that disrupt the flow of the debate and feed the sensationalism of the journalists that like to use this site as their source for pilots views.