Folks,
I was over in Blighty when I heard of AA's latest 'trouble'. As is usually the case, "experts"-particularly terrorism experts-were wheeled out to speculate their best(wild) guesses on us.
As heartbreaking as the subject is, I have to say that this is one of the best threads (which for the most part has stayed on topic) I've recently come across. Ppruners should be commended for their mostly wait and see attitude.
Belgique, and others, your insight and comments is enlightening.
Some FYI..
A few years ago AA adopted slightly different unusual attitude recovery techniques. One of the main points was that pilots weren't always using enough rudder during recovery. Several simulator unusual attitude recovery scenarios now call for "unloading" the wing by applying forward yoke pressure and using (coordinated) rudder inputs to level the wings.
As terrible as this incident (coupled with events on September 11th) is, the point should not be lost that despite being issued challenges that were insurmountable, these proffessional pilots did their ABSOLUTE BEST, as they were trained to.
It may well be that none of the five recent hull losses can be blamed on the ubiquitous "pilot error" caveat. That would be the only silver lining.
God bless them all,
Cheers,dd.