PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - How safe is (airbus) fly by wire? Airbus A330/340 and A320 family emergency AD
Old 2nd Jan 2013, 00:18
  #144 (permalink)  
Chris Scott
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Blighty (Nth. Downs)
Age: 77
Posts: 2,107
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
Quotes from Bengerman:

"If the pilot of an airbus FBW does nothing more than push the thrust levers to TOGA then the aircraft will accelerate into the ground."

Yes, but that's a bit like saying that if the pilot of any aircraft fails to level off at the bottom of a normal descent to 2000ft (say) the aircraft will soon crash into the ground. (Thank you for omitting your previous reference to smoking holes this time: uncharacteristically alarmist if you are an airline pilot.)

"Please DO NOT say that this cannot happen..."

I did not, but see above.

"I am relatively inexperienced at this game, still learning after 36 years at it, and I KNOW that if it can be done then it probably will/has been done!"

In which case you must be aware of least one fatal accident following a go-around, in which the pilots and/or autopilot failed to overcome the strong pitch-up tendency caused by under-slung engines at go-around thrust, resulting in a stall.

"I have time on 737, 744 and Airbus FBW along with others and have no particular axe to grind in favour of any manufacturer, there are simply certain aspects of Airbus design that I feel are fundamentally flawed, the above example being just one of them."

You do not mention any jets with tail-mounted engines. I have carefully reminded you that airliners such as the Caravelle, VC10, BAC 1-11, B727, DC9/MD80/B717, F28/F100, etcetera (not to mention numerous business-jets), have little or no thrust-related pitch-up tendency in a normal go-around. If you have never flown one of these aircraft, let me assure you that it is not a problem. Read what TyroPicard says.

You say that this issue is just one of the aspects of Airbus design that are "fundamentally flawed", so I suggest you pursue the others.
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