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Old 20th Feb 2008, 03:56
  #162 (permalink)  
Wornout Rubber
 
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A/P disconnect

It seems apparant that the A/P remained engaged down to 175 feet. Although the A/P is a pilot`s best friend in most emergency situations, perhaps it was not the case in this instance.

The speed at 750 feet must have been about 140 Kts.
The speed at 200 feet was 108 Kts.

As the the A/P was engaged, the AFDS was trying to maintain the glideslope, with a probable linear speed decay. The speed loss was approximately 32 kts in 500 feet.

Every kt of speed below VRef 30 would result in a worse Lift/Drag ratio, with the result that the aeroplane could not eek out as much distance as it potentially could if it was flying at it`s best L/D ratio speed (approx VRef). At 108 Kts, the L/D ratio would be significantly reduced.
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