Snowball effect 'easier to detect with hindsight'

Airport Authority officials said they might have 'misjudged' the issues responsible for the opening-day chaos.

Submissions from the authority's counsel said the body did not foresee the snowball effect that resulted from the individual problems on day one.

The authority apologised and regretted the chaos but maintained the problems were short-lived and not due to lack of effort on its part.

Problems easily seen in hindsight were not noticeable at the time.

The authority denied there were no contingency plans, citing the airport's quick recovery.

'The failure to see the snowball effect brought about by the complex interaction of a series of particular deficiencies may, with 20-20 hindsight, appear to be worthy of criticism,' it said.