Originally Posted by
Old Dogs
1) Level the wings - more or less.
2) Put the pitch bar on the horizon - more or less.
3) Put the throttles in the middle - more or less.
4) Stop and think.
May I suggest (regardless of anyone present) that this course of thinking was exactly what brought that plane down. I have to do something! Thought the pilot. WHY!? Wasn't on his mind. The wings were level and the plane was flying straight. The attitude was exactly fine. The engines were spinning and served them perfectly well. They reduced speed to react to turbulence. The only thing worth stopping and thinking about in that particular situation was what to order from the galley.
Honestly, I can't think of another major accident, let alone a crash, that resulted from a situation where, to save the plane, pilots had to do exactly nothing. They were busy doing nothing before the incident, they had to remain doing nothing during the incident, and after the incident, they should've continued diligently doing nothing.