Originally Posted by
CONF iture
True that speed was bizarrely not falling ...
Are you sure? Annexe X - page 9, right?
If so, then I'm seeing from "Remise des gaz"/full back-stick:
- An immediate increase in pitch for approximately 1 second (about the time it takes to transition between pitch command and HAP mode)
- The speed continues to decay from approx. 120kts to 113kts
- As the mode transition finishes (at approx. 115kts), the pitch increase stops, then actually decreases slightly as the speed decays
- As the speed builds up from the lowest value of 113kts (presumably due to the thrust kicking in), the pitch angle starts to increase again
To the contrary it is specifically designed with that in mind.
Only in conjunction with sufficient airspeed and/or thrust. Alpha Floor is intended to provide a degree of fail-safe functionality in the event that airspeed/thrust is insufficient, which is why turning it off or otherwise preventing its function is not advisable unless precautions regarding minimum altitude and a clear path ahead of the aircraft are strictly adhered to.
Alpha max is necessarily associated to "sufficient airspeed" called Valphamax.
Yes, but unless you know how that's calculated, it's something of a moot point.
Anything between 5 and 10ft is a lot of performance ... if it's all it takes to survive the bush ...
Page 9 indicates that Bechet's altitude was in fact slightly lower than Asseline's at the point of impact, but even if you transpose it to match it doesn't really suggest that it would have made much difference.
[EDIT : Actually, hold that thought - I just remembered something from a while back (cheers for this info Chris)...
Originally Posted by
Chris Scott
The four rad-alt TRx antennae on the A320 were mounted on the bottom of the rear fuselage, just forward of the fuselage tapering area ... At the final pitch angle of about +15, the tail-cone and tapering part of the rear fuselage would have been the first to touch any horizontal series of treetops.
The RA of Bechet's pass diverges significantly below that of Asseline's roughly around the same time Bechet gets his initial "bump" in pitch (before HAP mode/damping arrests it as a result of an airspeed delta of approx. -5kts/sec). I'm wondering if this increase in divergence is down to the higher pitch angle and consequent lower physical altitude of the RA antennae. ]
Also, as others have pointed out, the increased pitch angle would have meant that the empennage made contact with the trees lower down and at a more acute angle, increasing the risk of the airframe breaking up before it came to rest and a significant increase in casualties as a result.