GlueBall,
I stand corrected!
Net effect, however was that the aircraft broke up. In the case of the Saudia 747, the fact that the crew were unable to react quickly enough to the reverse deployment to prevent the taxiway excursion casts doubt on whether they would have reacted fast enough in the air to prevent a similar scenario to Lauda Air.
I flew the DC-8, and the difference there is that the use of MCT reverse inflight was only on the inboard engines, so the asymmetry due to one being in reverse would be less serious than if it had been an outboard engine. In the case of the Saudia aircraft, it would be interesting to know which interlocks failed to allow the uncommanded full reverse thrust to occur.
Murphy will always win!
