TAM A320 crash at Congonhas, Brazil

[TripleBravo]

PLEASE - why is everybody asking that the aircraft should not allow different thrustlever settings?

There is no such thing as a foolproof airplane and surely nobody thought about every silly thing that one could do in the cockpit. There have been incidents that were caused by a set parking brake at touchdown. Should that also been prevented by some logic?

All the Boeing drivers are not getting at ease with the non moving throttles. I think, I can understand your point. But apparently the ones that actually fly Airbus have no problem with that.

So my critical point is what exactly happens with your mindset when you are transitioning from - say - B737 to A320? Is the current training sufficient? Is the different philosophy in operating an aircraft tought well enough and are the trainers / teachers aware of those aspects? It seems to me that it is a completely different thing to get an initial typerating at A320 than transition from B737. One of the pilots of JJ 3054 was just half a year flying A320.

As to the thrustlever positions: How should the aircraft tell which one is wrong and which states the pilot's intention? The reversed lever could have been the wrong one as well as they could have been desperately trying to go around with one malfunctioning lever. Again, the aircraft cannot tell and just lets them do. In general, a running engine is more safe than one that quits thrust for some "logic" reason. You could just cut off fuel if you want the engine to stop, but there would be no way out if the logic would shut down the engine on its own. Think about that, every rule you implement shall not lead to catastrophe in a different situation. If you cannot be sure: Leave all competency at the pilot's actions.

That's what Airbus did here: The engineering is not trying to second guess what the pilots are doing, this is the proof if you wish.

There are just a few rules you should strictly adhere to (or a few more) as with any other airplane.