BOAC not sure what classic (734) you have been flying but the last one I stepped out of had a nice big notch of flap 30, the one just before 40...
In saying that though, Im with you on the load relief – drop it!
This all comes down to one thing and one thing only, pure and outright negligence.
THEN, the pilots had the ordacity to make excuse after excuse. The box never lies, trust me, ask it anything
There is one thing that is 100% controllable and that is your speed. In saying that, contrary to any sort of flap problem, they still did not manager their approach or their aircraft. One fella mentioned previously – what ever happened to the Go Around? 15 clicks would have been fine, even if the thing was stuck! The only excuse I can see here that might be worthwhile is that one of the dashboard crew had a bad case of Diarea and needed to get it out quick – that would be a worthwhile excuse in some sickening case – Aviate, Navigate & Communicate with the element of ****iate if needed – their goes that maturity level!
These 2 pilots have not only destroyed their own career, both by telling fibs and being inconsiderate pilots, they have also destroyed the reputation of all pilots - once the media get it out.
As if it is not hard enough having pax who are extremely scared of flying, and wonder how and if the plane will fly (the good ol' "will it fall out of the sky" theory), now we will have to deal with the "can the pilots really fly this plane" said Martha, "yeah, especially after those 2 pilots from Garuda flew it to fast" quoted Marg. Keep in mind, the Media will not display all the who-har about the situation, it will just be published as “Pilots, to fast” or maybe even “Pilot clocked at 350km/hr, kills many, receive's speeding fine”. Don’t laugh, it could be true, they only want the gory and vilifying details.
All I ask is that don’t look to deep in to the situation, check out the basics of it all – half of us are not LAME’s, we just know how the damn thing flys and how to keep it up there, not every little rivet, screw and liquid nail used to hold the thing together (Journos, use that one for me
). Any technical talking will give the journos, who are no doubt hounding this forum, more fuel to play with – lets let them keep their current story – to fast.
Cheers.
