PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AF447 Thread No. 3
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Old 28th May 2011, 03:09
  #259 (permalink)  
JD-EE
 
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As I read that report with tears in my eyes all I can think of is "why?" Why in (censored) did Hal decide the plane had stalled falling from 270 kts to 60kts in less than a minute. That's acceleration that would have shredded the plane. Hal should have disengaged COMPLETELY rather than force the trim ever upwards to try to maintain altitude. It's as if Hal forgot the inertial system was still there and still functional.

That is a very basic design defect that must be corrected. Simply putting on probes that supposedly don't ice is not enough. (side note, sensor_validation suggested an acoustic monitor on the probes to prove airflow - good idea.) The aircraft must recognize that airliners take more than a few minutes to slow from 270 to near zero absent an attitude shift to a very high angle of attack. If that happens auto-trim should be disengaged with the trim left at the last known good value. Otherwise Hal gives the pilots an uncontrollable plane. That means it must think the pilots are there simply to take the blame in an accident.

So that's my unsolicited highly depreciated two cents worth.
{^_^}
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