CS - I agree with you. Leeds United got very lucky that day. In the report you will read that in less than a second this captain determined that this failure would result in the mainspar being burnt through and that flight was not possible, so he snatched control from his F/O and crashed straight ahead. But it was the right hand engine that was on fire. He was also told this by his senior C/A who was sitting in the rear. To determine that the aircraft was in jeopardy he must have looked at the Mainspar Burn-through Indicator or there again, the passengers got very lucky. The AAIB did notice burn marks from the fire. But they also noted that landing after being airborne is not a recommended procedure, that this was an untrained and unrehearsed procedure, that absolutely no fire containment procedures were performed and that there was no evidence to suggest the wing spar would burn through. It is also telling that one this report took as long as is did to publish. I will speculate that certain some in the AAIB considered this a criminal act and therefore beyond their remit. It is also telling this company had its AOC pulled for a series of subsequent gaffs, oversights and near-misses. I'd suggest nowadays that such behaviour would result quite rightly in prosecution. Believe me, I normally defend fellow pilots, but not this one.
At V1 you decide to fly or stop.
ps. The moment my wife knew who was captain she said "He'll be on the telly tonight". She was spot on!