Originally Posted by
fenland787
As I was only an occasional inhabitant of the Pointy End during flight my knowledge of Autopilot setting is limited to what I had to do to 'fly' the lab in Everett but I don't recall being able to set 'Plummet' mode?
(Edit - looks like the Beeb have decided 'drops' might be better than the original 'plummet' - they could be right but descends could be even better?)
BBC News
For takeoff the Flight director in the Q400 is set with the Vertical Mode ; GA (Go around) and the lateral mode HDG SEL (heading select). Further the assigned altitude for departure is entered with the ALT SEL (alt select) mode armed. In the Flybe case the crew forgot to input the assigned altitude and left it at 0ft. When they armed ALT SEL the flight director captured the assigned altitude of 0ft (as the aircraft was already at approx 0ft) This meant the vertical mode was in ALT. (i.e. the autopilot had been programmed to maintain 0ft. When the autopilot was engaged after takeoff at around 1600ft the flight director pitched down to returned to its assigned level of 0ft. This comes down to basic mode awareness of what the flight director is commanding given the stage of flight.