BA 77
A possible cause to the accident could have been a failure of the autothrust system if this was engaged at the time. If this occured at low altitude at a point of low thrust the engines may have gone to ground idle instead of flight idle therefore needing around 8 secs to wind up again. Factoring in the time to realise the failure and react to it whilst trying to control the A/C all wastes valuable seconds.
Any thoughts from 777 drivers?
It must have been developing some power because if the A/C had a total power failure at 2 miles it wouldn't have much extra speed to trade for height and I doubt whether it would have remained airborne for 40 seconds gliding from only 600 feet.
Last edited by fcom; 19th Jan 2008 at 16:54.
Reason: Adding text