V1 vs V1
Core developing subject here is whether it is an option to abort after the V1 we accept as being the go/no go.
We are trained that V1 means go go go .. fly the aircraft, get out of the danger zone, accelerate, go to after takeoff / climb / abnormal /emergency checklists, and use the copious amounts of fuel on board to rationalise the next decisions using FORDIC or the like as a guide to an agreed set of subsequent actions... it works.
That is a reliable set of options under 99.9% of circumstances that most pilots will face in their entire career.
The remaining 0.1% of everyone's career distills to a very minor possible percentage.. ergo, follow the procedures !
We cannot be trained for that infinitesimal chance, if we were, it would de-program us from responding to a more likely set of occurrences... result would be more over-runs, and quite possibly more fatalities.
BUT ..is there something in the idea that when one is flying an airframe full of freight, that one knows or feels that saving one selves in an lower energy overrun situation is preferable to a high energy and unsustainable situation once airborne ?
I did once have a grossly overloaded aircraft thanks to the Royal Mail getting confused between pounds and kilos .. so many moons ago that all I can remember was chronic pitch instability and a marked reluctance to climb, it did however concentrate the mind somewhat.
Pallets and freight can shift, or its placement can be very incorrectly planned whilst pax generally do not vary to the same degree.
The crisis in confidence becomes where do you actually discover the problem flying freight ? well how about V1 and it's not just a cozy cut like in the sim.
My understanding is that there were performance planning rather than load planning issues here .. but in terms of psyche ?
TR