It is hard to believe that anyone is insane enough to try to take off in this state.
This is nothing short of homicidal, and I use that phrase deliberately and in its literal sense. Any Captain and FO, both of them, doing this should be stripped of their licences, sacked on the spot and put on a charge of reckless endangerment of life at the very least.
It is against the reguations of every Western airline, against the procedures laid down by the manufacturer, aginst every tenet of airmanship and safety and in the light of nunerous fatal accidents (Potomac for instance) almost beyond belief that anyone would be insane enough to try it.
If I were a pax and thought an aircraft was intending to take off in that state I would make my forceful objections known to the cabin crew and if take off looked iminent I would just blow a slide and explain myself in court later. But at least I'd be alive to do so.
The correct penalty for this sort of staggering irresponsibility is long prison sentences for the crew. I do not exaggerate.
Any officer or director of the airline who defended that action should join them.
And I hope they drop the soap.
Last edited by Agaricus bisporus; 10th Apr 2012 at 09:08.