Originally Posted by
Rwy in Sight
Reading the last few comments, I had the same feeling. Maybe the PF did not realize the stick was all the way back.<br />
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Rwy in Sight
No. the PF was recorded on the CVR a few seconds before the end of the flight.
Mais je suis à fond à cabrer depuis tout à l'heure!
I have had the stick fully back all the time!
Immediately after this the Captain says
Non, non, non... Ne remonte pas... non, non.
no, no, no .. don't climb..
This confirms that the Captain didn't know what Bonin was doing and Bonin didn't realise the aircraft was stalled. Bonin had experience with gliders, so it's not credible he was so ignorant of the mechanics of flight that he thought he could pull up out of a stall. The only explanation is that he did not realise what it meant to be in alternate law and a stall was possible. Amidst all the cacophany of warnings, buffets and probable fatigue Bonin was simply confused. However, one pilot becoming confused should not bring down the aircraft. This brings us to the other major part of the systems failure. The other two professional pilots did not see what Bonin was doing because it was not obvious. As bubbers44 pointed out the deflections on small sidestick were essentially invisible to the other crew members.