After all the comments about cock-ups, and there must have been one or more, may I commend the PF on a seemingly non-panic manoeuvre that kept the tail intact, i.er. good pitch control, allowed a gentle kiss to departing runway in fond farewell and an application of extra oomph that allowed the early bonds to be broken in a pitch controlled manner.
I suspect the TL's were advanced PDQ, but the nose didn't rear like Nick Skelton's Olympic winning show jumper.
I always say that pilots will dig holes, many times. It's what you do next that counts. There are those who jump in and keep digging; usually only once. There are those who have fallen in, are surprised, but find a climb out and there are those who teeter on the edge and retreat. I suspect this was the middle one.
I also reflect on the RTO section of the takeoff brief, where one reason is "aircraft unfit to fly." This was passed V1, but perhaps there was a lot of runway remaining at FRA: depends on where they started. I wonder if there was a momentary pause to consider an RTO, but the a/c behaviour didn't seem to suggest that. It would be interesting to know where their initial rotate point was and the final liftoff.
Last edited by RAT 5; 25th Aug 2016 at 21:57.