I withdrew from the previous thread some time ago after reading several postings in the BA private forum.
BOAC (the Head Honcho BA forum moderator) had posted a link to the previous thread in the BA private forum, entitled “Calling all Concorders”. In it he copied
Jackonicko’s plea for information from Concorde pilots…
Anyone with the required privileges to re-post this request in the BA section?
There were very few replies but one correspondent posted the following…
I haven't replied to that thread because it's just too big and developing into the usual battle of personalities rather than exchange of info.
I felt that I had been partly sucked into that battle of personalities (despite trying to remain objective) and have since remained (until now) as a spectator on the sidelines. I would now like to add to my previous contributions as I feel that there is a previously undiscussed possibility worthy of an airing. I should like to state though, for the avoidance of doubt (although some may find it blindingly obvious), that I have never been anywhere near a Concorde and have no knowledge of anything “Concorde specific”.
In the previous thread, I supported the theory that a contributing factor to the eventual loss of control may have been that the First Officer, when bringing Marty’s attention to “The Airspeed Indicator… The Airspeed Indicator” failed to add the command “Pitch Down”. I cited possible sensory overload as a reason for Marty’s failure to take corrective action against the obviously decreasing airspeed.
I would now like to suggest an alternative (and in many ways less un-attractive) scenario.
I have learned from these threads that Concorde cannot apparently stall in the conventional sense. Surely though, it must have a limiting angle of attack and therefore some protection against exceeding it? Yet there appear to be no sounds printed in the CVR transcript which relate to any “Stall Warner” or “Stick Shaker”. This may be related to why the First Officer gave no “Pitch Down” commands with his “Airspeed Indicator” warnings.
Perhaps on each prompt of “Airspeed Indicator” (excellent input from the NHP in a sensory overload scenario) Marty snapped out of whatever fifteen other things were occupying his selective attention at that moment (let’s face it, there was an awful lot going on at the time!) and DID actually pitch the nose down to retain flying speed. There would then have been no need for the NHP to issue the command “pitch down” and no automated warnings either.
I offer you the thought that perhaps Marty did NOT at any time allow the airspeed to reduce below flying speed and that the loss of control may well have been caused by the raging fire (I think we can all agree that it was raging, can’t we?) burning through control surfaces or actuating mechanisms.
Without knowledge from the Flight Data Recorder of the pitch angles at the moments immediately before and after the “Airspeed Indicator” warnings by the First Officer, this remains as speculative as any other theory. It is, however, a theory that is much kinder to the memory of the crew , and at least offers a way out of the arguments about whether an off-field landing should have been attempted.
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Wrt the validity (or otherwise) of debating this here on PPRuNe... Perhaps some take BBs such as this too seriously. Whilst the internet can be a useful tool for the exchange of information, my primary purpose in posting on any forum is to amuse myself. That amusement takes a more or less serious tone depending on the topic (and I have been taking this one rather seriously), but in a worldwide circus such as the internet you do have to remember that it is all things to all people. That is its very strength.
Back to the sidelines...