Bealzebub, Ancient Geek, Captplaystation
Well said! This thread is following a familiar track. Those of us who do the job have almost certainly erred and been lucky to get away with it with nothing more than a slap on the wrist from ATC. A lot of us will want to find out WHAT happened before passing judgement.
Those that don't fly jump to conclusions!
I would imagine most BA pilots, like their fellow professionals, in other companies, are loathe to condemn a crew without seeing the final report. We all make mistakes and there is, I believe, a broad consensus that what is most important is to LEARN from these errors. 'Just culture' does not mean absolving crews from mistakes if it can be shown that they were reckless or negligent. If you want an open reporting system where pilots feel supported to admit their errors then you need the just culture. The alternative system did not work and their were plenty of smoking holes in the ground to prove it.
Last time I went to Joburg I was warned specifically by my colleague not to continue into the maintenance area by mistake. However, I could see, or not(!) how it would be easy through a moment's inattention/distraction to do so. Off my soapbox, Merry Christmas everyone.