Originally Posted by Machinbird
I think I need to clarify that there was apparently a mental 'expectation' that Alpha Floor was going to kick in, thus even though he may have forgotten his specific autothrottle configuration, the expectation that it would operate caused confusion and a delay in actually adding power.
Page 35 of the French report:
At 12h 46' 26'' (Crash - 13 seconds)
CDB "Bon Je vais bien la debrayer l'auto-manette."
(Google translate = "Good I'm fine to disengage the auto-throttle").
Radio Altimeter shows 40 / 50 / 40 feet.
I agree. It also seems to me as though he was going to "demonstrate" how clever the aircraft was and that Alpha Floor was going to prevent a crash, despite the thrust levers being closed.
It would explain the crews insistence that they didn't deliberately fly below 100 radio and did not hear the radio call outs because they had both ears covered by their headsets. (From a crash investigator TV program)