Originally Posted by ChristiaanJ
RWA,
Weird... we were writing at the same time.
Absolutely, ChristiaanJ - thanks are due to BOAC for mentioning the Potholer post, I'd forgotten it. Can't help feeling that we're on the right track - 'gut feeling' only, though.
Couple more points for the 'picture' of what possibly happened:-
1. The investigators didn't release the full CVR transcript with the before-landing briefing. Very possibly that includes the captain deciding that, given the wet runway etc., he couldn't risk even the moderate amount of forward thrust which would result from putting No. 2 into reverse.
2. Both CVR transcripts (Taipei and Congonhas), and that Madeira landing video, show the 'Retard' call being heard two or three times before the pilots actually pulled the levers back. Presumably the call is triggered at or around say 20' Radio Altitude? Possibly it's timed a bit early - and sounds rather before the pilot's eye tells him that it's time to flare and retard? No big deal, 'one of those things' on the face of it - but if that's so, it's yet another reason why the 'Retard' call may be treated as a mere 'cue' rather than any sort of warning? Especially since it then cuts out.
And a question for A320 pilots. From the Madeira video, and what I know of the manual, and Eric Parkes' notes, I gather that when coming OUT of reverse you have to make sure that you push the levers right through the 'idle detent,' and then pull them back again, to ensure positive location IN the detent as opposed to just 'nearly' in it.
Is it the same when retarding to idle in the flare - that is, you have to pull the levers firmly back, against the resistance of the 'detent' mechanism, to make sure that they are firmly seated? How much 'feel' do you actually get? Is it, for example, the same sort of 'feel' you get when pulling a car's gearshift back through reverse and neutral into 'drive'?