AF 447 Thread No. 10

[DozyWannabe]

@LW50

I appreciate what you're saying and you may be right. However, the fact is that once outside of Normal Law, there are no protections which will hold the aircraft in a safe attitude in spite of the PFC input. 2-3k hours on type mostly in autopilot can explain the lack of manual handling ability, but it cannot explain the lack of knowledge of the systems on which they relied.

The loss of hard protections in *any* Alternate Law mode is down in black and white in the FCOMs and should be basic required knowledge when flying the type. This is why I found the hamster wheel regarding the Alternate modes so baffling, because in any flight law outside of Normal, the aircraft will follow PFC input right through Alpha Prot and Alpha Max if that input is sustained.

I'm speculating openly on HF issues with possible regard to this accident - I'm not claiming any certainty over what might have happened.

You mention a timely reminder to lower the gear - and I'm absolutely with you on that whole sentiment regarding A-N-C and CRM. That's why I'm speculating that the second the PNF noticed the unusual attitude, it effectively drew his attention away from the technical troubleshooting and quickly became his overriding concern (hence saying it was a CRM issue from that point onwards!)