Well, I laughed at the deportation comment! (Yes, I live in the wonderful London Borough of Hounslow)
So are we saying the whole programme was wrong?
Are we saying only the bits that related to ATC were wrong?
Are we saying that it might be close, but not under those exact circumstances, so let's dismiss it?
Are we not 100% sure?
OK - I think we have established that the ATC bit was rubbish. To look at some of the rest of it...
1/2 mile from M25 to Heathrow you are not under Surrey Police Control (as quoted to me by a Traffic Cop)
When the drivers were walked to the marquees...how did the car carrying marquees get through the gridlock? (you could see the car and trailer in shot)
At one point a fire fighter says into his radio "Make pumps six" (correct fire brigade pharseology) I am told that under teh circumstances, that would have been "Major Incident" (as told to me by a London Fire Brigade sub officer. 6 pumps actually isn't very many)
2 aircraft down over Hounslow, Heathrow Manager having to decide whether to send Airport Fire service or not - I refuse to believe that there is no standing orders about that. Recently there was a scrap yard fire off airport. You guessed it - Heathrow foam tenders in attendance.
Most of the footage of where the crash was showed the wrong areas (recognisable easily to locals)
The hoppa bus that the doomed family (didn't you just know they were going to be in the crash) was an unmarked white minibus - don't see many of those around Heathrow. (ok - that one is really picky)
Yep - I reckon that most of the programme was poorly researched.
Nobody is being complacent, but a TV drama, posing as a documentary that infers some X files type conspiracy within NATS and poor controlling deserves to be slated.
Chips