G.Khan
You say:
"The locals have a very healthy respect for typhoons and since some other operators had already cancelled, this captain....etc."
Perhaps if this particular captain had had such a healthy respect for typhoons, he too would have cancelled?
Could he have felt himself to be under pressure, subtle or otherwise, not to delay, or was his being at "his zenith as a B744 commander" sufficient reason for him not to ponder the no-go decisions, made by, perhaps, wiser heads at the time?
I understand that the captain of an SIA B744 freighter, due to leave CKS at about the same time as SQ6, was one of many who declined to depart until the weather improved. Can you or anyone else cast further light on this and would it be true to say that SIA felt no obligation to hotac the freight pallets on the night in question?
Regards.