admittedly, it's been a while since i flew a boeing in an airline op.....
however, i remember quite clearly that:
1. you can always go around.
2. if there's any doubt, there's little harm in spooling up the engines just a tad -- maybe not on a fully coupled approach to mins or a cat iii in 0-0 [obviously] -- but in this case, the wx wasn't all that bad -- [not bad to me = > 500' & 1/2 mi or so] -- the poldervan is about 2x what the 73-8 needs to roll out and turn off sans snow / ice.
and if that little spoolup makes u too long -- refer to # 1.
and yes -- if i really needed to be at 0 thrust, i still had my hand resting there, ready....[not gonna miss pubbing at the brown bars in ams cuz my hand is elsewhere than the throttle quadrant --
]
3. as an instructor i set my priorities of safety over instructing -- hard to instruct dead students -- plus my unblemished ticket is more important than showing you what you should have already learned in the sim...
4. we only used autopilot / a/t etc when really necessary -- much preferred clicking it off once established and hand flying -- why? -- we knew at least once and usually twice / yr we'd be going to that torture chamber they called the sim -- and how likely was it that they'd welcome us there and say -- ok -- we want to see you pass this check using the autopilot?
nope -- the a/l i graduated said: in the sim you're gonna fly the whole time with an engine or 2 out, maybe one on fire, and a hyd or elec failure [at least] -- we know that if you can do that, you'll be fine flying the line with most everything working.
plus -- all flight checks were given somewheres between 2 and 5 am -- often with the faa watching....
frankly, i was glad for it -- till i read bout this accident [and the colgan, right here in my home town], i had no idea it's not that way everywhere -- so there is a difference between airlines!
5. #1 a/t inop? no worry! there's always the #2 a/t -- it's called the f/o [or s/o, if anyone knows what those were...]
cheers!
dt
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