I am suggesting that if they were on Tango taxing for RWY 9 instead of RWY8R it was by request for the said purpose of using the longest Runway. If so, they would not THEN decide to to do an intersection departure.
From the runway diagram, when at T1 you have to turn left and enter the runway, there is nothing straight ahead... OR right , then a Left onto Sierra. If disoriented, T1 could appear like the entrance at "S" and that you have reached the start of Runway9. Disorientation seems to be a factor.
Have you listened to the tower tape on the link posted earlier?:
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/km...2015-0030Z.mp3
24 seconds into the recording the tower explicitly clears QR 778 Heavy to line up and wait runway 9 at T1 and they acknowledge the clearance with a readback including T1.
At 1:38 on the recording QR 778 Heavy is cleared to takeoff runway 9, no mention of 'at T1' as I would expect from ATC and QR doesn't question it in the clearance readback.
From an FAA runway safety brochure:
ATC must state the name of the intersection to a pilot before a line up and wait instruction. You should question ATC if this does not happen.
Pilots should state that they are at an intersection when requesting a takeoff clearance. A controller must also state the name of the intersection when issuing a takeoff clearance.
From:
http://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_s...s_Brochure.pdf
At the very least, if QR 778 did a runway verification callout, they would have two clues, the T1 sign and the lack of runway numbers to tell them they were not at S and the full length of runway 9.
But as you say, if for some reason they were taxiing on T, T1 could sure look like full length as T ended with a turn onto the runway at T1.
Fatigue COULD be one of the causal factors in the crews using full length(temporary runway) take off figures for an intersection(T1) takeoff.
That however, still doesn't explain why four crew members CHOSE to use an intersection T1 takeoff instead of the full length. Was there ANY ATC subtle suggestion or pressure? And if not, then why?
It is simply not normal. And it begs an answer.
I'm not too optimistic that the CVR recording was preserved but the ATC recording of the ground control conversation should give some insight into how they were cleared to line up at T1.