Capn Bloggs,
Thank you for that fascinating link. Our lot have recently adopted those new procedures and I was not aware of the source of the problem.
If TOGA was not selected here (levers just short of the detent) and then the A/P engaged after manually pitching up, the aircraft will do exactly what you have told it to do and dive down aggressively with lots of thrust on.
But to do this you would have to:
- Disconnect the A/P at minimums but forget to switch off the FD (SOP is FD off).
- Not read and call your FMAs (fundamental Airbus stuff).
- Engage the A/P with the FDs showing full fly down.
OR (if trying to GA with the AP on):
- Push the levers almost all the way and you just accelerate downhill with an almost immediate AP disconnect.
- Fail to pull up with the sidestick (as the FDs guide you down 3° slope).
If you have come from a slightly more old fashioned jet, it is instinctive to be gentle with the thrust levers. The Airbus demands a positive and rapid ramming of those levers at times.
If you are light and powerful, there is a further reluctance to ram the levers to TOGA. But ram them you must.
If you ever "fly through" the FDs in an Airbus, then you are asking for trouble*. You need to turn them off.
* Pedants: I know, apart from during the blending of modes in a V1 cut.