I am trying to stop the growing spread of the 'urban legend' that they "flew blindly and stupidly into the mother of all CBs". As long as that remains unproven (and unposted), I am happy.
Couldn't agree more, BOAC - truly sorry that we've been at cross purposes. I feel exactly the same way. For myself, I'm sick and tired of the press and public (and most other parties involved) seeking to blame the pilots for almost every accident that occurs. Unfortunately, though, that tends to suit most of the organisations that might otherwise be held liable - especially, of course, the airline, the manufacturer, and the equipment suppliers.
There are bound to be, as always, a number of causes identified in the final report. 'Pilot error' always suits the business side best - beyond that, it will be a 'horserace in reverse,' with Airbus, Air France, and Thales all 'competing' to finish in fourth place.
As I and others have said, there are significant and meaningful chunks of flight deck comment missing from the release for some reason which may well hold an explanation as to why they zoom climbed, for example, which precipitated the stall.
I have commented in Tech Log also on the Atlantic incident in 2001 where an A340 did a similar zoom - without crew input - and its speed reduced to a very low figure too. Way to go.
Total agreement. My earlier consideration of possible, unexpected 'severe turbulence' was actually triggered by the BEA's (in my view, completely out of line) assumption that the 'zoom climb' was merely the result of the PF pulling the sidestick back. I can supply yet another example of a (quite recent, and fatal) 'zoom climb/deep stall' incident that had nothing at all to do with 'pilot error,' and was in fact caused by sudden and 'severe' turbulence:-
Because of storm cells ahead, the pilot decided to change course laterally by 20 km and attempted to climb over the storm cells. However, the thunderstorm front was unusually high, extending up to 15 km (49,000 feet). The Tu-154 entered an area of severe turbulence, pushing up the airplane from 11.961 m to 12.794 m within just 10 seconds. The angle of attack increased to 46 degrees and the airspeed dropped to zero. It entered a deep stall from which the crew could not recover. The plane crashed and burned in a field.
ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154M RA-85185 Donetsk
Apologies in advance if I appear to come across as unduly cynical......
