"De Telegraaf" reports that the Boeing was descending much too fast.
From the radar registration it appears that the aircraft descended at 1344 ft/min instead of the usual 700/800 ft/min. 45 Seconds before the crash the descent rate was 576 ft/min at a low 85 knots speed. Speed at time of crash was 83 knots. Speed in the last 2 minutes was 159, 148, 145, 129, 117, 85, 83 knots.
Comment: Reducing speed would seem to indicate that the autothrottles were stuck in ARM and that the actual static power-setting was insufficient to support a 3 deg glideslope on the ILS..... therefore kinetic was being swapped for potential energy and the auto-trim was working its deviltry ...until stick-shaker provoked a handful of max power, and the extreme nose-up back-trim (immediately after autopilot disconnect) took them into the nose-high zoom and a power-on stall..... with the subsequent impossibility of "pulling out" from the resulting nose-low attitude without G-stalling
.
In an attempt to validate my interpretation of
post 779's English, I've attempted to re-write it more clearly (see the coloured bits), as I'm a steam-driven multi-pilot. I'd like a high-tech man to validate
If you are in FLCH descent and not following the FD, the throttles will stay in idle (HOLD) until down to the MCP ALT. Switching off the FD changes the A/T to speed mode and everything is fine. That's the reason why you have to switch off the FD during visual approaches.
With respect, Mostly correct. However, switching off the FDs will not automatically put the A/T into MCP SPD mode, it depends on the A/T mode at FD disengagement.
If the AFDS was in LVL CHG (FLCH for the 757 crowd) prior to FD disengagement and prior to ALT capture, the A/T would remain in ARM
(i.e. ready but inert - not good). Subsequently pressing the SPEED button on the Mode Control Panel (MCP) would restore the A/T to MCP SPD mode (with FD's off, such as on a manually-flown visual approach). However if the AFDS was in V/S mode at time of FD disengagement,
then the A/T would remain in MCP SPD and increase thrust as required to maintain whatever was set as the "MCP-selected" speed.
.
Might a fair conclusion therefore be that:
"the AFDS was in LVL CHG prior to FD disengagement and prior to ALT capture, so the A/T remained in ARM (i.e. ready but inert - not good)?"