I think there is a need for great caution with media reports. Surely no Company's MEL would allow this?
Yep, deactivated T/R's are not uncommon, many engine types have a tab or pin that sticks out of the nacelle to visually indicate deactivation.
Although the T/R's are usually not considered in runway performance (the SWA overrun at MDW pointed out some inconsistencies in this) some types of ops like LAHSO and Cat 3B may be be prohibited.
We'll know more soon but, as we discussed several pages ago, this crash seems to have a lot in common with NWA 255 at DTW including the failure to climb, wing waggling stall, (possibly?) survivable impact and the fire as the plane fell off the level area and broke apart.
There has been at least one airliner crash in recent years where the crew had the flaps up and the warning horn did sound but they ignored it and continued the takeoff with disatrous results:
30:58 - Sound of engines accelerating starts.
31:00 - Sound of maximum engine acceleration.
31:01 - Alarm begins to sound (Beep, Beep, Beep...).
31:05 - Pilot: "No, no, no, huh?"
31:12 - Pilot: "What the hell is that?"
31:16 - Cop.: "Take off thrust set, speed alive" (spoken in English)
31:20 - Pilot: "I don't know what's going on, old man, but everything is ok." (unclear).
31:23 - Cop.: "Eighty knots." (spoken in English)
31:36 - Cop.: "V 1."
31:37 - Cop.: "Rotate." (spoken in English)
31:39 - Cop.: "V 2."
31:41 - 31:45 - Continuous mechanical sound of the stick shaker.
31:45 - Sound of engines decelerating. Cuts out.
31:46.04 - Sound of impact.
LAPA Flight 3142 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For perspective, an excerpt from the BBC's initial report of this LAPA 3142 crash:
Up to 80 people are reported to have died when a Boeing 737 airliner crashed in Argentina while taking off from the main domestic airport in the capital, Buenos Aires.
A spokeswoman for the airline - Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas (LAPA) said 95 passengers and six crew members were on board the plane when it went up in flames after crashing into a golf course near Jorge Newbery airport.
The pilot is reported to have radioed that one of the plane's engines caught fire as he tried to take off...
BBC News | Americas | Dozens die in plane inferno