So I also agree it is way too early to be hailing the flight crew as 100% heros. They certainly seem to be for the way the a/c was landed but until the report is issued we can only speculate as to whether they were totally blameless.
I couldn't agree more. The medias craving for news, any news just so they can keep the audience figures up so they can sell advertising contributes a lot to the problem. There's a fine line here - can you imagine the headlines if BA had simply said after the accident that "we have no comment until the AAIB completes its investigation"? I can almost guarantee 95% of the media would have built that into an admission of guilt, rather than a simple, honest statement. Instead BA is almost obligated to exaggerate its praise of the crew to reassure customers and keep the media at bay. I'm buggered if I know how to turn the clock back, but is it just me who hankers for less speculation masquerading as "news"? How about a ban on "experts" presenting opinion as fact? I guess we'd all have to watch cartoons instead.