Sean Leveloff
14th Mar 2002, 07:22
On the 3 March 2002 ‘spam in a can’ reported that……. .. .……A B747-400 taking off from Auckland to Fiji commenced it's take-off roll without setting the flaps. The take-off config warning alerted the crew, but they did not stop.(F/O was PF)The F/O was shouting at the Captain to stop but he wouldn't. Instead, they selected flaps to 20 degrees during the roll. The flaps only reached 3 degrees by Vr. By 100 feet, they had only reached 7 degrees. The only reason they didn't crash was probably because the aircraft was light. When the F/O was asked why he didn't initiate a reject, it was because the ops manual states only the Captain can initiate a rejected take-off.. .. .I understand a little bit about culture and its affect in the cockpit but was the F/O and crew really willing to risk the B747 instead of rejecting the takeoff. There must be a point where human instincts come into play and the rules or culture go out the window. If the captains not going to abort you cant just sit back and enjoy the ride into the paddock at the end of Auckland International. Has CRM been introduced to Korean Air? I cannot imagine how people put themselves in this position.