<<Over the years I have spoken to quite a few airline captains about the Papa India disaster and all seem to agree that what happened was that Captain Stanley Key following re clearance by ATC from 1500ft to 6000ft >>
Where did the "1500 ft" bit come in please? The crew reported "passing 1500 ft climbing". The aircraft was following a Standard Instrument Departure and would not have stopped at nor been cleared to 1500 ft except for exceptional reasons. How do I know this? Because I cleared it for take-off and was involved in the investigation. I also have the official report in my hand. I did not instruct the crew to maintain 1500ft, nor did London Radar. As far asI recall, the only mention of "1500ft" was by the BBC air correspondent. Where he got it from I have no idea.