Even the return of the aircraft to Heathrow over large populated areas rather than to peripheral airports with low population density appears to have been unwise.
Negligence abounds in this sad and sorry tale.
Luck won out.
The only saving fact is that the aircraft survived this Fawlty Towers flight, and lessons can be learnt.
Implementation of failsafe , simple SOP's and checks seems in order, with appropriate penalties for failure to do so.
Garpal,I guess you've never made an error or broken a rule ? In aviation (as opposed to less critical fields of endeavour) the outcomes can be VERY different.
Unfortunately people make errors,which can have devastating outcomes, for the same reason they forget to post a letter.
All aviation professionals do battle with their Human fallibilities eveyday,on our best days we can still screwup,add short turn rounds,bad design,fatigue,time pressure & its amazing that there aren't more problems.
Its because as professionals we work hard, train hard & realise ultimately we hold peoples lives in our hands.
The designers, operators & the regulators have a duty to ensure that they set us up to GET IT RIGHT - NOT WRONG, this is not the case.
If PAX realised the stresses & strains placed upon flight crew & ground crew they might vote with their feet. They don't realise that we can become so focussed on 'achieving' that bending/breaking the rules becomes the norm.
It would be nice if things changed across the piste,but unfortunately that takes something far more serious for things to change, people have to die, before the right questions are asked. The ripples from this event, particularly outside the aviation community, will fade quickly.