I'm still a little alarmed that the concept of this trap had never occured to me.
1. I deduce that talk of autothrottle wakeup in HOLD mode is perhaps misleading as it is already 'awake'- ie: it is already activated in HOLD mode. Maybe this is the crux of why there is no stall protection logic.
2. Could the accident aircraft have been in VNAV SPD with 0' or a MAA set on the MCP?
"Note: During a descent in VNAV SPD, the autothrottle may activate in HOLD mode and will not support stall protection"
Last edited by HPSOV L; 15th Jul 2013 at 03:49.