NC1701
Your second to last paragraph asks the much avoided chilling question. With all those inconsistencies, how come 3 pilots thought it was the correct view? It seems unbelievable if those facts mentioned are true, but then a China Airlines A340 recently departed Anchorage in an even more unbelievable scenario and no doubt they too THOUGHT they were in the correct place, even though it was a taxiway almost perpendicular to the intended departure runway! There were three pilots on that flight deck too.