[Ryan Coke]

Other thing I'd point out is that from straight on, either ahead or behind, there isn't a lot of lighting with the landing/taxi lights off. There are a few position lights and the flashing beacon, but for such big machines they can be surprisingly hard to see at times. I have noticed this when taxiing behind, and getting a little closer than I intend. From the side, and with the logo lights on the tail, that they are far more visible.

As for the pilots, it is unlikely they would be fired. One of the great things about the industry in the western world is the lack of a punitive mentality in the safety system. It recognizes errors occur, and the goal is to try to find ways to mitigate and trap the opportunity for errors to create an incident.

But of course it depends on the individuals performance history, as well if there was any actual negligence involved. One possible factor may be fatigue, and while I hate to overuse that as an excuse, it is a constant challenge in this business. But as more facts emerge, it may be an explanation why they didn't react appropriately sooner.

But if the pilots involved have a good history, do well in training, don't have a history of incidents, it likely would be counterproductive to fire them for a one off unusual situation. The reality is humans make mistakes, and we have all had those moments where we can't believe we made the error we did. The goal in safety investigations is to try to figure out why it occurred, and ways to try to prevent it from occurring again. Just firing people when they make a mistake really doesn't accomplish much from the standpoint of trying to improve safety.