Was it the Captain, or the First Officer, who toggled the switches? This is the first I've heard it was the FO(?). All stories leading up to this had it the other way around, with the Captain being the one who manipulated the cut offs, and the FO being the one who questioned it.
For my part, after a lifetime of aviation, I can't imagine catching some critical system being overtly shut down, reconfigured or the flight controls being interfered with out of the corner of my eye during takeoff, and sitting there while dealing with it also knowing it was intentional and that I only had a few more seconds on this Earth! That is just a chilling thought beyond comprehension.
Your mind goes though all sorts of scenarios during takeoff (even though it's not supposed to, still, it happens), and I know even I have had the random "what if?" thought about some critical function being "accidentally" moved into a deadly condition and then knowing I likely wouldn't have time to deal with it (before rudely being thrown into a completely unscheduled 'meeting' with the ground). Fortunately, there's not a lot of those scenarios which are possibilities, but a major loss of power for whatever reason is always a concern, and one way which IS possible is the fuel cut-offs...because this function must be available at any point during engine operation.
I can't speak for others, but for me...that's the stuff nightmares are made of!
For my part, after a lifetime of aviation, I can't imagine catching some critical system being overtly shut down, reconfigured or the flight controls being interfered with out of the corner of my eye during takeoff, and sitting there while dealing with it also knowing it was intentional and that I only had a few more seconds on this Earth! That is just a chilling thought beyond comprehension.
Your mind goes though all sorts of scenarios during takeoff (even though it's not supposed to, still, it happens), and I know even I have had the random "what if?" thought about some critical function being "accidentally" moved into a deadly condition and then knowing I likely wouldn't have time to deal with it (before rudely being thrown into a completely unscheduled 'meeting' with the ground). Fortunately, there's not a lot of those scenarios which are possibilities, but a major loss of power for whatever reason is always a concern, and one way which IS possible is the fuel cut-offs...because this function must be available at any point during engine operation.
I can't speak for others, but for me...that's the stuff nightmares are made of!