The beautiful Ogival Wing and its airflow.

V1 is the speed below which the pilot can still safely abort the take off and stop the aircraft within the length of the remaining runway. I think John Hutchinson summed it up best in his interview; there were just so many things that came together which had an accumulative and cascading negative effect. The crew that day operated the aircraft outside its operating limits and violated not only regulations but standard operating procedures; add to that the maintenance error with the wheel spacer, the uneven runway, and the metal debris that carved a bit of tire away and it seems the end was inevitable :(


--

If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS  blush