Tunnel vision
Hi Dear Experts,
Never flown a 747-400F but deeply involved in aviation safety issues. Following the twenty plus pages of discussion on this sad event I’m really stunned that this topic is spinning around and around an initial preconception of „load shift” or C.G. problem thrown in for our attention by somebody at a very early stage. After this momentum everybody’s mind is focused on this scenario. It would worth a psychological study in itself. What about dozens of other possible causes: pilot incapacitation, severe flight control malfunctions? (If my memory serves me well there was a cargo DC-8 accident in the US where a blasted rock vedged the elevator in a nose up position on takeoff. A pilot in a nearby parking lot eyewitnessed the whole event and described roughly the same wing rocking stall sequence!)
I think this whole topic is a good example why professional investigators are trained thoroughly to be able to ignore preconceptions and start every investigation open-minded and with a blank sheet of paper.