Flying Lawyer,
It may amaze you but my previous work has not been restricted to taking pretty
PR pictures.
When with BAe ( where I first trained as a fitter ) my main work was in photographing aircraft internals, wingtip to wingtip, nose to tail, for the instruction of fitters, technicians & designers.
My other main work was attending various aircraft & equipment trials, handling various externally mounted plus cockpit cameras, and assisting the development of recce systems.
I was always closely involved with these trials, and was usually attached to the Flight Test team; I have been involved with aircraft since I could walk & talk, as my Father was a Leading Air Mechanic on Seafires & Hellcats, before going on to serve 35 years at Dunsfold, becoming what I think can be proven the top crew-chief of his day, running the aircraft on virtually all harrier trials from FRS1 to GR5 ( trials I was involved with too ).
I was also photographer at various accidents large & small, including a BOI.
Since leaving Dunsfold I have had a couple of other jobs in aviation, one involving a lot of flying in Cessna 172's for photography, where I did most of the hands-on flying ( big deal I know ! ) as a sort of autopilot; I have never bothered with PPL due mainly to the cost.
I am also heavily into aircraft history, and served as a guide at Tangmere for a year.
It is precious beyond belief to think that only pilots may dare comment, and if I feel I have something useful to say I will not be prevented by a few cheap remarks; I still believe the possibility of asymmetric flap was quite a real concern in this case, and whether the pilot would have been able to get the flap/s back up in time if a roll started seems dubious; it certainly should have been on his mind when selecting, hopefully it was, but someone's remark 'what makes you think he was in a hurry to land ?' is verging on the comical...
When I first commented, all that was required was something on the lines of 'why do you think that ?', rather than leaping into 'he's not one of us', which does you no favours.