According to the very few AAIB information we know that the crew did let the AP fly the aircraft without enough power. As a result the speed decayed until AP disconnection while it tried to keep the plane on glide. this was followed by a high fpm sink till the ground. I don't see anything to be rewarded since there is no mention of any crew action in here...
Any basic ppl student learns that on engine failure during final the best way is to go below the glide in order to keep speed and store kinetic energy since it the only way to control an aircraft and to flare with a low speed/fpm impact.
In the BA case there is obviously a very innovative way of managing dead stick landings since the "strategy" was to "burn" all of the available kinetic energy. As a result, with no more kinetic energy to control the path, the aircraft was controlled by its potential energy which threw it to the ground and resulted in substantial damages.
Can anybody elaborate on the advantages on keeping the AP fly the glide on a dead stick approach (which is opposite to the fundamentals taught in any correct flight school) ?
I'd bet the guys realized lately they had a lack of power and that when they tried to apply manual power the speed was already so low that it resulted in AP disconnection. They are not to be blamed at all, but I still don't see any heroes. To be a hero you usually have to perform an heroic act. What I'm just asking here is what could have been the possible heroic acts that this crew could have performed ?
Last edited by sispanys ria; 8th Aug 2008 at 17:38.