Originally Posted by
Murexway
Don't know if it's true, but I saw an article yesterday saying that Grieg Feith (former NTSB "Mud Stud") mentioned that "the autopilot was still engaged when the aircraft was on its rapid descent, meaning that the pilots were fighting the automation". As an old timer, I can't imagine sitting there below 10,000, watching the throttles go to 100% and the nose dropping to 49 degrees nose low without disconnecting the automation, deploying the spoilers, and pulling for all I'm worth.
One of the things that may need to be looked into on this is how the 767 control system responds if the pilot pushes the column while the autopilot is engaged. More recent models recognize pilot intervention via significant controller displacement as time to disconnect the autopilot. On older models the autopilot does not immediately disengage in response to pilot input. There may have been a period of time where both Hal and Row 0 were providing significant control inputs. Learning that the autopilot remained engaged would not necessarily mean that Hal was at fault.