Things to take note of. The captain did initially call for flaps 20 at 16:08:44. Unfortunately the FO put in flaps 8 and the error was not caught in the subsequent checklists. For those unfamiliar with the CRJ, flaps 8 is the most used flap setting.

Based on the CVR there is a ten second or so gap between V1 and power reduction, but only the the FDR can confirm the accuracy of that. I am unsure as to why they got a spoiler configuration warning....any ideas?

It is also worth noting that the FO did not call Vr.

Reading CVR reports like this one makes my stomach churn. We have all had some moronic conversations at work that we would not like anyone to hear....so I hope that no one holds the content of their discussion against them. Only that they should not have been so involved as to lose situation awareness.

I have heard many stories of successful flaps 8 takeoffs, when the flap setting should have been 20. It is a mistake that a lot of crews have made. Changing the flap setting during takeoff roll, not so much.

I thought the crew did pretty well at staying calm at the end of the runway. Just imagine the 10,000 thoughts running through your head in a moment like that. With the most blaring one being that your career is quite possibly over. I am not sure how I would handle that. I imagine most people would go into full shock.

As mentioned before, it is always better to learn from the mistakes of others. We can all learn from this accident.

And remember, pull the damn CVR circuit breaker before you go into CYA mode!!!!