Hi mm43,
Is the "startle factor" excuse a cop out for poor training endemic throughout the airline, or is this event a "one out of the box" horror story?
I think the "startle factor" is something we need to address. Normally all training is pre-briefed, so when the event happens in the simulator, there is no "surprise".
Please see the startle effect mentioned in
Incident: Air France A343 near Guadeloupe on Jul 22nd 2011, rapid climb and approach to stall in upset:
"The flight data recorder revealed that the pilot monitoring pressed the autopilot disconnect button, no aural alert sounded, and
pulled the side stick about 75% of its travel back for about 6 seconds. The aircraft subsequently rolled right and left indicative that the pilot not flying was not aware of his actions....The
pitch attitude in the meantime
increased from 3 to 9 degrees in 5 seconds, .... The crew reported later
they did not hear the altitude alerter that sounds upon deviating 200 feet from the assigned altitude, ....
the pitch angle reached 12 degrees nose up, the mach decreases.... the aircraft still climbs,
the vertical speed increases through 5700 feet per minute, the crew does not notice the excessive climb rate, engine N1 is at 100%, the pilot flying switches his navigation display to a range of 160nm."
Does it sound very similar?
In the future, will we be bursting paper bags or firing starting pistols in the sim to produce the "startle factor"?