I'm asking this as a PPL and therefore as a non-B744 driver, but would the fact that the takeoff was after sunset have made it better or worse for the crew.
Obviously it was slightly less "hot" (but still high), but is it easier to run through options available only 12 - 40 ft off the ground during the day, or at night.
Are the instruments/warning lights clearer? Does it help seeing the ground in daylight, or is it all pretty moot in the timeframe they had to react?
After sunset usually the temperature will have dropped a little but whatever the temperature the performance calculations will have been based on that temperature.
In my experience at the stage it happened the pilot flying would or should have acted instinctively at the occurrence of the stick shake i.e. reduce the angle of attack as much as was possible at such low altitude simultaneously selecting full power, assuming any more was available.
Day or night the instrumentation and cockpit illumination is adjusted to a level to suit the conditions. They are clear and easy to read day or night for that reason.
There are no warning lights as such on the B747-400 except for the Master Warning/Caution light on the glare shield which illuminates when the level of EICAS (Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System) warning message warrants it.
A reverser unlocked will normally be indicated by an amber 'REV' in an amber box above the relevant engine EPR (Engine Pressure Ratio) indicator and an EICAS message 'ENG REVERSER' will be displayed if a fault is detected. In the incident concerned I have no idea what the systems were doing nor which message(s) or warnings, if any, were triggered.
After rotation the handling pilot is flying by reference to instruments even having reduced the AoA I doubt looking out the window would have been much help but that is only my opinion.
Doesn't it worry you? All you professional guys out there - doesn't a story like this worry the hell, out of you (and the pax sitting behind you)?
You've done all the calculations, correctly set the aircraft up ready for takeoff according to weight, altitude, weather conditions etc. Are you not completely in control during the critical 2-3 minutes that follow?
When I push the throttle forward in my C152 and commit to takeoff I expect to be in total control for every aspect of the flight thereafter including an EFTO.
This story suggests that a computer (a machine of questionable integrity programmed by a nerd who might or might not have been having a bad day) decides that a major mechanical malfunction has taken place (when it hadn't) then retracts essential lift devices at the very moment they are needed most and all of this happens between 12 and 40 feet above ground.
Factually incorrect. For whatever reason the aircraft sensed that a reverser(s) was or was about to be deployed and retracted some of the LE devices as per design. The cause was a fault somewhere not the rather glib assertion that an individual having a bad day during the design phase made a mistake many years ago.
Whatever happened to PIC?
He is alive and well. He may or may not have been the handling pilot.
Thank God the crew were experienced enough to take corrective action. How many Third World crews would have been able to do the same or ended up splattered all over the airfield perimeter?
Assuming a Third World crew, as you so condescendingly refer to them, had legitimately qualified for their positions and had had the benefit of the level of thorough training many of us enjoy I am sure they would have been just as successful as us superior First World pilots.
The difference and problem is that nepotism and bribery too often influences the selection criteria and training standards are poor in far to many airlines run by bankrupt and corrupt countries.