Originally Posted by
chris lz
to DaveReidUK
Thank you,
...I am under the impression that the consensus view in the industry is that VZ was convinced he had the clearance and it was all a terrible lapse. To suggest otherwise seems to me tantamount to saying VZ was effectively on a suicide mission.
cheers
It's possible that he thought the elements of the route and departure clearance he'd received also gave him grounds to believe he had an actual take off clearance.
I've lost count of the number of times a pilot (usually not an airline pilot) has commenced departure after receiving a departure clearance (route and level to follow) but without a takeoff clearance.
His once chance to be pulled up on it was when the message from the controller "stand by for take off, I will call you" was jammed by the PanAm crew advising they were still on the runway. Neither call was intelligible. Radio discipline overall was not at it's best that day. Sometimes a little patience and considered timing goes a long way.