I was interested to see someone say that the 737 had been parked out of position for months. Combine that, with what sounds like a non standard runway for departure, and the swiss cheese model is in full force. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. From our armchairs looking at pictures, we can see that it was never going to work ( the port main was all but off the taxiway ). We all go to airports on the EK network where the "normal rules" just don't apply. I mean, who would of thought it would be routine to hold off for a rocket attack, not fly over that way due to small arms fire from the hills, or come up with a plan as the airport was the scene of a firefight? No one gets up thinking, I'll just fall into a wee trap today. There are so many occasions at work where we might think, s**t, I wish I hadn't done that. If we are lucky, at worse, it might mean calling a tug for taking a wrong taxiway. If it ends up like this one did, thats really bad luck. We strive to trap threats and brief in a TEM style to avoid days like this one for our entire career. If we are lucky, we are known for our professional and incident free record and are well thought of. If despite everything we are for just one day caught out, we are that bloke who f****d up, this despite the other 20,000+ other incident free hours.
To all those who have chosen to judge, or offer a less than complimentary opinion of the crew, I hope you don't one day rue the day you made your comments. So what if it was their fault? I feel for them and am sure that they don't need any help with the kicking in the bolax department. The fact is, they are now dealing with an unenviable situation with a company that is historically unforgiving. I for one hope that they are treated fairly and wish them well. We should learn from these events and move forward together.