p51guy - I think you are mistaken. The pitch/power tables are very rudimentary. When flying close to the coffin corner at altitude and in HEAVY turbulence, you don't stand a chance, not even if you're a stick & rudder ace.
clivewatson - as I mentioned before, the ND control know has an inner knob and an outer ring. The outer ring is to dim the Weather RETURN. The inner knob is to display the rest of the ND info, INCLUDING the WX radar mode and tilt angle.
It is Airbus procedure to check the WX radar return on taxi out when switching on the WX radar. However - and I am guilty of that as well - this is almost never done on a clear day at the departure field since there is no immediate weather threat. For TO the WX radar is set up at about 5 degrees and adjusted during climb. The adjustment is quite easy since we have a very accurate tilt indication on the ND (which - again - is NOT dimmed as it is part of the ND). After level off, the WX radar is set to -0.25 degrees to have a good look ahead and slightly below. At this setting, you won't get those annoying ground returns. So, if you forget to check for returns on the ground, you might not get returns at all until it's too late.
I personally found out the 'hard' way as a young FO when I questioned the Capt. why my Radar didn't work. The only thing I lost was my pride on that day and a beer to the Capt. and I gained a lifesaving experience.
Maybe both guys had their radar dimmed and since there was no weather out of Rio, they just didn't notice before it was too late. It is not that hard to do...
MR8