Originally Posted by
737Jock
I would imagine valphamax being reached more easily in circumstances that are more "stable".
But the aircraft was flying *faster* than Valphamax throughout - the EFCS didn't have to "reach" anything, and there was no impediment to the aircraft reaching Alpha Max other than time.
What seems to have made the response slower than it might have been was the significant deceleration with the stick half-back and thrust still at idle - then staying half-back until a few seconds after TOGA was commanded, because in that scenario HAP mode restricts pitch rate change to maintain stability and trajectory.
The test flight being discussed by HN39 (as part of the original investigation) involves a slightly different scenario where the stick was moved full-aft simultaneously with TOGA being applied, thus the aircraft was in pitch command mode, which allowed pitch (and AoA) to increase more rapidly - initially. However what effect this might have had - if any - regarding impact with the trees can only be a matter of speculation, as the initial faster pitch change is arrested until the thrust starts bringing the airspeed back up again.