Originally Posted by
hsmall
My thoughts are that there should be an independent review (by the CAA?) of this aspect of the incident. If the ground staff behaved as magnificently as we all agree the on board crew did then they deserve complete and public exoneration from the brickbats which are being thrown at the moment; and, as Tweedledum would say, contrariwise.
I don't know what it is about the world these days, and why in this Nanny state we've created everyone expects perfect service in every circumstance.
By it's very nature this kind of accident has never happened before, and the response requires a lot of improvisation by people who are struggling, at least initially, to get a clear picture of the severity of the incident and move the passengers to a safe location etc etc. Unlike the aircrew who can practice engine out landings in a simulator, there is no simulator for a crash landing in the corner of the airfield. I'm sure they have drills and tests, but they're never going to be exact, and I'm equally sure, in hindsight, there will be things that could have been done differently.
My confidence in the basic support remains high - if I have to have an airplane accident anywhere, please, please, please let it be in LHR not some hideous, ill-equipped backwater.
Get real. Quit nitpicking. Be thankful the people on BA38 were only marginally inconvenienced and they didn't all end up in hospital beds or worse.