Bear the pb is above the AP engage pb but is of a different design.
I would say that for most pilots if an AP disengages that they will take control of the aircraft and then try and re- engage the AP.They do not have experience in hand flying these aircraft at high level with a rearward c.g and many simulators do not replicate tnis very well and in my experience it is never practiced. There may have been some repeated button pressing until they realised that it would not engage or function properly
I do not believe that selection of the fpv was accidental. Airbus philosophy is that if you are hand flying you select fpv and I would imagine that this is what they selected whilst they tried to cope with the situation before them.
The problem with this selection is that the Unreliable Airspeed checklist advises against its use if altitude information is unreliable. We will find out in the coming months what was the root cause of the upset and the wisdom of the selection of fpv.
The A330 is a beautiful machine and many of its systems have been developed to cater for shortfalls in the design of earlier Airbus types.When I first flew it I was very impressed that the designers had put a lot of effort into getting it right. It is an immensly complicated aircraft but also extremely reliable . I would imagine that this crew were aghast by how quickly their perfect machine turned ugly and their atrophied stick and rudder skills failed to cope
Finally I have not seen an A300 with four pitots,which operators aircraft did you see?
Last edited by tubby linton; 17th May 2011 at 20:38.