@aterpster - Chris Scott is correct. I see a little mixing of terminology creeping into the discussion though, so I'm hoping that this crosspost from another thread may help. It is a very simplified description, but I think it's valid:
Originally Posted by
DozyWannabe
- FBW is simply a concept whereby the link between the flight controls and flight surfaces is electronic as opposed to mechanical or pure hydraulic
- "Protections" in a FBW system are comparatively basic systems which will in most circumstances keep an aircraft that is already flying within a safe operating envelope
- FCS "laws" are simply a shorthand for system configurations that keep the aircraft handling as close to normally as possible in the event of systems failures
- FBW systems are *not* automation in the usual sense - they will not fly the aircraft for you, and they certainly won't prevent you from messing up an approach and landing!
It is the *protections* that, as Chris says, "...would not have allowed the a/c to enter and maintain a stall, even with the sidesticks fully back". Where flight control laws come into it is that the hard alpha protections only function when the systems are in Normal Law.
The existence of those protections was never intended to allow the industry to cut back on training in manual handling and stall recovery.