Originally Posted by
Squawk7777
Could somebody do me or actually those two deceased UPS pilots a favor and mail this accident report to Jörg Handwerg, Captain and spokesperson for the German pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC)? He was the first person I know to publicly criticize those two pilots in the German newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ)" for taking too long to return back to the airport.
I would say that as a general rule, it would be a better decision to go to good airport 100 miles away rather than 180 miles away.
While it may not have made a difference in this case, it may have in another situation. Perhaps if the pallet on fire had been in a different location, arriving 10 or 15 minutes earlier would have made a difference. Perhaps if Pack 1 had been working or the smoke evacuation handle in the cockpit had not been pulled or an early descent accomplished(all of which made things worse), that extra 10-15 minutes early arrival would have made a difference.
Aside from the radio communication difficulties that resulted from returning to Dubai, it is difficult to say what the difference would have been if they had arrived 15 minutes earlier into Doha.
Choosing a significantly farther very suitable airport to return to is not the best choice as a general rule in this situation even if subsequently turns out that it would not have made a difference.