While it is not difficult to understand how/why this
occurred, it not have happened. Is there not at least some SOP for fire and rescue crews to confirm their intended target before charging ahead with the assault? In this case, the airplane assaulted in error was not even the same type or carrier reported. OMG!
One would also like to believe that the Fire and Rescue crews use some version of thermal scanning before their attack. In the far more common instance of an emergency/precautionary landing do to heat/smoke/fire alarms from the hold, the F&R crews are frequently directed to SCAN but Do Not Open until an evacuation, if ordered by commander, is completed. Darn good reasons for that order, even when>~98+% pf such alarms turn out to be a faulty sensor. A firefighting assault on the WRONG airplane, w/o direct contact with the flight crew or some major evidence of significant fire, is beyond belief. Where was this again? Do F&R staff speak the language of the air? Did the tower translate? If those twits did conduct a thermal scan, were they reading the operational jet's EGT? I do not
believe this, yet I do!
Great to know that flying is so
safe, but beyond North Amerika, Europe, Japan and at least some of Russia, four rubber wheels on pavement may be a better choice.
