The decision to abort was made several seconds after V1. Let's remember what V1 is. We're committed to fly after we have heard V1. The speed was 142 knots. The airplane would have flown just fine at flaps 8, flaps 20, or anything in between. The airplane would have flown just fine even though it was yelling 'config flaps' at the crew. The decision to abort so long past V1 sealed their fate.

With that being said, I think it could have happened to many of us. They have paid a huge price. Get them retrained and get them back in the cockpit. And let's all take 'sterile' more seriously. But most important I beleive is proper checklist discipline. I see too many people just read/or recite from memory the checklist, and say from memory the proper response, without actually verifying the checklist item.