The Right Stuff

This has really struck a nerve with me. I first heard about it shortly after it happened back on the 29th.
Even before the video, eye-witness descriptions pointed to a load shift.
Then the video came out.
And reportedly, air traffic control communications reporting the pilot said he had a load shift.

These pilots do some fantastic flying. All the way to the ground. They never quit. You can actually see it...

Part of what bothers/ed me is the critical importance of doing even the 'small jobs'. And attention to detail.
The pilots are highly trained, a crew of seven... loads of experience... but, it likely came down to whether or not someone used the correct type of chain/strap or tightened it down correctly on the vehicles in the cargo deck.
The very moment the plane started to climb, it was doomed, because the cargo shifted, rolled backwards, thrust the plane onto its tail making it nigh impossible to control.

And yet, the best part, is that the pilots didn't QUIT. They may have known they were doomed, but they kept trying. A book I love uses the quote, "I've tried A, I've tried B, I've tried C!" showing how you don't give up all the way down.

And for a beast of a plane loaded with cargo, way outside of its design limits, they ALMOST do it. To the untrained/unfamiliar eye, the plane looks like it's falling from the sky, as controlled as an autumn leaf. But these pilots, and they ARE piloting that whale, do the amazing following steps:
Recognize the Stall
Overcome ALL human instinct in a stall situation close to the ground and begin to aim the plane AT the ground to recover (a very key point of training - had they done differently, the video would have been much shorter).
The left wing wobbles, dips as the stall begins. They recover the left wing stall rolling into a right wing stall.
It begins. But, with the wings now both stalled, and then recovered, a spin starts. They kick the rudder hard, turn her... and get wings level and ready to begin accelerating to recover flight.
Nose down a bit to start accelerating right when the precious margin between aircraft and ground ran out. The maxim 'Altitude is Life' is as timeless as aviation itself. With altitude, you have time... you can make it happen.... but, they just ran out.
With all of their incredible aviating, and IF ONLY for a couple thousand more feet... they might have made it. Or at least, to start solving the next part of the problem.... getting the crippled bird back onto the ground in one piece. But, somewhere... one person shortcutted. (Truth be told: in aviation, there's never ONE cause, there's a chain, but universally, if you can break that chain anywhere, then you can avoid it... so, there may be many causes, but any one could have stopped it.)
These civilians don't get the military honors. They don't get the "Thank you for your service." They don't get any of the glory or anything that our uniformed brethren get. Yet, without their support and their efforts, we couldn't do it. And they are volunteers as much as we are.
There's not likely going to be a Missing Man Formation of 747s (wouldn't that be a sight?), nor any ceremonies. The families will deal with this privately.
But to you Aviators, what to the vast majority of the viewing world seems like sixty seconds of sheer terror was likely sixty seconds of amazing professionalism and solid performance. I'm in admiration.