XJO - Bear Posts only (Factors which might cause the markets to fall), page-23139

An extremely sad event! Your right the plane has a warning system (loud alarm with a red light) if you try to take off without the flaps fully extended for maximum lift (so that theory was discarded). In this instance (still a theory!) when the aircraft got off the ground when the pilot advised the co-pilot to gear up (lift the wheels up otherwise causes huge drag during the flight) he may have put up the flaps instead. When you are taking off in an aircraft I am sure you have heard the noise when the undercarriage is pulled up.
Usually the flaps come up to provide drag (to slow the aircraft ) during a landing. We will soon know the facts as the black box has been found!
A great shame for the Dreamliner safety record as this is the first crash after celebrating 1B passengers flying this type of aircraft in April.