There is a line of thinking emerging here and I think is well founded.
- serviced nose gear
- fault develops in ground / air switch, it manifest intermittently.
- Cpt notices something on first taxing and goes back for checks
- switch is not diagnosed, instead probe heater is excluded.
- another clue: strobe lights on
- at some point, flaps up.
- a/g goes. Checklist ? (we will know by CVR), no configuration warning, takeoff with flaps retracted.
- none of other conditions (weight, trip, wind, t/o thrust set, calculated Vr ) was favorable for a no flaps t/o
- stalls, and cannot be fully recovered.
One come to terms with the fact that human factors are decisive in the above scenario.
Last edited by el #; 29th Aug 2008 at 14:18.