Capn Bloggs - I'm totally with you. I'll bet this crew had never practiced this manoeuvre. Furthermore, I'm not so sure that their company's attitude to safety is entirely commensurate with aviation in the 21st century. I know a few people there and find some of what they tell me quite alarming. Like their charming "Final Written Warning" letters, unpleasant chats with those in the office, behind the scenes "heads-up" for check pilots just before sim sessions and their corrosive reporting culture where one colleague drops another in the mooh.
And no, I don't necessarily want TOGA button availability on landing roll. As long as the thrust levers move and the engines spool up I'll do the rest.
Boeing's job is to design and document how their products are built. It is the user's task to take the finished product and design a training programme around their pilots and the aircraft so that most foreseeable eventualities will have been covered to an acceptable standard. It is also the user's task to ensure that a sufficiently flexible set of SOP's are designed so that pilots can continue to hone their flying skills during normal operations. Rigid, "one size fits all" SOPS result in crews losing their ability to think and their flying skills being eroded.
These guys got set up by the system (design and regulatory), far (sic) and square. Sure, they stuffed it, but they are not solely to blame.
I totally agree.
PM