Originally Posted by
Herod
ExAscoteer.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the problem was that the autoland wasn't armed, just the ILS approach mode. That meant the aircraft never entered the "flare" mode, but just kept on going down at the R.O.D. it had when the G/S guidance was lost.
You're correct. It's a long time ago but ISTR A/L TRACK mode required 30 seconds of being established on the localiser (LOC 'captured' BLACK) before the Autoland system would arm. This didn't happen in the circuit and it happened as Herod describes. ExAscoteer is also wrong regarding the subsequent details - the damage was done to the a/c on the second bounce which was far heavier. The TP disconnected the autopilot on the first bounce (with no 'FLARE' mode) and then pushed the control column forward. This had the effect of removing most of the lift from the wing rather than changing the attitude of the a/c as the DLC (Direct Lift Control) was active with landing flap, which meant the spoilers came out.
It was a source of great annoyance among Sqn pilots that as a result of this, autoland was completely off the agenda thereafter. However, there was some discussion of autoland being allowed for operational necessity when 216 Sqn were based at MXP for Op Deny Force etc due to the winter fog, but it came to naught when the base moved to PMO.