Originally Posted by
neilki
er? flown one much?
There are 2 ways to disconnect A/T on the 320 series. One (and don't try this at home..) is to push the A/T pushbutton on the FCP. The other is to use the 'Instinctive Disconnect' switches on the TL*
Moving the T/Ls to the Idle detent doe NOT disconnect auto thrust.
The thrust lever position is an auothrust limit only.
As in this case, Autothrust was indeed available and commanded TOGA even though the PF had apparently disconnected it by one of the above means. Alpha Floor is a function of Autothrust.....
*OK, manually going to TOGA does disconnect A/T but it's armed. semantics :-)
Not sure what plane (or planet) you are on, but I fly the A320 and the last few thousand times I did, I do remember the AT disconnecting every single time I pulled the throttles to idle.
Also, although the preferred (by AB) method is to push the ID buttons, if you use the FCP button, the thrust will be locked, and if you push the ID button the thrust will go to max CLB, so depending on the situation, the FCP button will be much less of a "don't try this at home" moment.