Originally Posted by
FCeng84
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.
No, I'm sure they were trying everything humanly possible, exactly the way we all would have been. But if the darn automation wouldn't relinquish control, that would be a horrible feeling.