Crucial points and lessons learnt
I think this was an extremely serious incident that has proven that the following variables must all be present if we want to save lives:
- Well trained and experienced pilots
- Well trained and experienced cabin crew ( they are the evacuation execution experts)
- Well trained and experienced ATC personnel
- Well trained and experienced airport firemen
- A 3rd pilot helped to assess the real situation beyond cockpit based information. Each second is precious, his presence also made a significant difference in terms of speed to instigate evacuation.
Well trained and experienced professionals are not to be forgotten: this incident could have turned into a major disaster if the professionals above did not perform as expected. Professionals deserve good working conditions and decent pay, let's never forget this.
I was really impressed by the BA pilots' handling of this crisis, however I cannot ignore the excellent job done by the BA cabin crew and by the local ATC and fire services.
Just one of the above parties failing would have meant the loss of many lives. In a way this accident is a celebration of the high level professionalism needed in aviation from pilots & ATC to cabin crew & airport fire services.
Last edited by ILS27LEFT; 10th Sep 2015 at 21:28.
Reason: corrections