Every quirk in a cockpit can be traced to the ego of some airline's chief pilot. TWA's Gordon Grainger insisted on the very light stick force to kick off the altitude hold in the L-1011, and Eastern suffered the Everglades accident.
He also insisted on radio altimeter indicators that went only 0-1500 feet, resulting in the 1975 TWA 727 CFIT that triggered mandatory GPWS.
He also put all the overhead switches backwards from every other airline.
GB