[zipper]

Miraculous escape: The British Airways Boeing 747, similar to this one, is thought to have gone into landing mode so that the flaps that make it rise did not work

Silly me, I thought they set the flaps BEFORE takeoff. Anyway 'landing flaps' are always at a greater setting than 'takeoff flap' settings. The article doesn't make any sense.

[dr_lew]

Anyway 'landing flaps' are always at a greater setting than 'takeoff flap' settings. The article doesn't make any sense.

It certainly seems plausible to me that the 747 would have difficulty climbing with flaps fully extended.

[bootless]

Exactly. It doesn’t sound like deploying the flaps while in the takeoff roll would be such a good idea.