following SOP's
Firstly we all make mistakes. I haven't read all the posts and perhaps somebody has already commented on the way in which the two LPC's are used.
However good SOP's are there to trap human errors when they occur. What happens when SOP's are bad? Who is to blame for incidents or accidents then? If SOP's are bad, it requires extra vigilance from the pilots.
When looking for the reasons of this incidence/mishap, I think it will be found that the SOP's used were/are flawed. That is also why it was not appropriate to ask the pilots to resign when in fact they were dealing with dodgy SOP's.
What's the point of having two LPC's on board when only one is being used? Why do the takeoff performance on the LPC and then hand it over to the Capt if he's anyway going to just enter what he gets given (if he's tired/fatigued/distracted etc). This is where extra vigilence is needed. Maybe the data is duff gen. That is the SOP issue that needs to be looked at.
Rather use both LPC's and independently enter the weight and airfield data from ATIS and compare them later. The chances of both pilots getting the weight (mass) wrong is lessened. Only using one LPC invites a whole host of possible errors.
Different airlines use different FLEX procedures, some airlines allow crews to choose max or intermediate or min FLEX by scrolling up the or down the FLEX temps. Some airlines only use max FLEX or TOGA.
We can all learn from this mistake and it has happened before with some sad and some lucky outcomes. It probably will happen again. But having good SOP's and sticking to them will help to avoid them... ATM.
The bottom line is... change the SOP and use both LPC's. This should not be seen as criticism. It's a mere discussion and I hope we can learn something from this incident.