Right, thanks for the explanation, NWIFlyer. So I went through my text messages and my photos to find the time stamps and compiled a timeline (all local times) below:
17:15 boarding should have began (time stated on BP), but nothing was moving
17:37 waiting in queue at gate
17:43 boarding began a little before this, as at this point, I was already on the tarmac walking towards the plane
17:55 I got in seat
18:12 pilot welcomed us onboard and announced delay
18:30 take off
21:34 land
21:36 just pulled into gate (but door hasn't opened yet)
21:49 got new BP from gate staff
Please correct me if I'm wrong:
The plane door would have opened sometime between 21:36 and 21:49, let's say 21:40. So the total delay would be 40 minutes.
The pilot made the welcome announcement at 18:12 and announced after talking to ATC that we missed our takeoff slot and that we would be delayed. So is it correct to assume that this is the time after which the delay is outside of A3's control? I.e. the amount of time delayed outside of A3's control = 18 minutes (time between 18:12 and 18:30).
So is it correct to say that since the total time delayed outside of A3's control (18 min) < total time delayed (40 min), this is not a case of extraordinary circumstances?
Even if we assume that the plane was allowed to take off right after boarding was completed (assume this to be 5 minutes after I sat down in my seat as we would still have to go through safety briefing, so this would be at 18:00), we would have arrived at 21:06 (given that the time needed between take off and arriving at the gate is 2 hours 6 minutes), we would already have technically missed the 40 min MCT at ATH already.
Am I misunderstanding/miscalculating something or coming to the wrong conclusion?