"soft" limits vs "hard" limits, an old debate...
The evaluation team preferred the flight envelope limiting features ("soft limits") of the B777 design to a "hard limit" design. This was a subjective judgement based on the premise that there may be situations unforeseen by the designers where the pilot might need to achieve full aerodynamic capability as opposed to being software/control law limited.
Source :
Comparative study, CFIT avoidance, A332/777 (worth the reading!)
That's about statistics... if more accident because pilot overstress/stalls/overbanks the aircraft, than from aircraft preventing pilots to go to the (aerodynamical) limits, then hard protections seems better.
Other advantage of the latter are to offer constant/guaranted performance (more than pilots, in fact, who are human...)
O/T about the ABS : Braking action (from brakes to wheels) is lower when brakes are released, that's true.
But OTOH, on
most surfaces, breaking
is more efficient (and distance shorter) when the wheels are not locked (IIRC).
=> ABS provides:
- on all surfaces (dry, wet, mud, snow) the best directional control. 100% of the time.
- on most surfaces (dry, wet) shorter stopping distance than most of drivers can achieve. 90% of the time.
As an educated driver, I would like to be able to switch off the ABS when I drive on fresh snow. I can do that by pulling the breaker, but it's not very practical so most of the time I let it on (and know that I won't be able to achieve the shortest stopping distance).