your friend is up against a public record
Didn't happen. I personally know the guy who was the F/E on that.
They two engine taxiied out and the Capt. gave them a grand total of 90 seconds to get the third engine started, do the checklists as he pushed the throttle forward. Unfortunately, they missed the flaps.
Meanwhile, the cockpit tape, which began shortly before the
aircraft pushed back from the gate, revealed that Flight 1141 had
nearly a 30-minute wait before getting takeoff clearance, during
which much of the time the flight crew _ sometimes with a flight
attendant taking part _ engaged in casual conversation, including a
lengthy exchange about the large number of birds at the Dallas-Fort
Worth airport.
At one point, the transcript refers to nearly eight minutes of
``nonpertinent conversation'' _ omitted from the transcript _ with
a senior flight attendant. The exchange is cut short when Davis
asks Kirkland about requiring to change frequencies to contact a
second ground controller as the plane moved from the east to the
west side of the airport.
``Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sitting here talking to the flight
attendant,'' apologized Kirkland.
Judd, the flight engineer, later told investigators that when
the plane was third in line for takeoff, he announced the plane
would be taking off soon ``in part because of his concern about the
flight attendant's continued presence in the cockpit,'' one NTSB
document said.