It's been awhile, but I seem to remember he was trying to perform an Alpha-floor demonstration. Something about it doesn't kick in below a certain altitude (obviously, he was unaware of this.) By the time they realized A-floor wasn't going to engage, I think he did hit TOGA, but they were already too low/slow/behind the power curve to recover.

The details are getting kinda hazy already though - I haven't spoken French since March.

Unrelated, but it sorta reminds me of that Etihad A-340 that went screaming off a taxiway with a bunch of mechanics and engineers on board. Someone forgot a small detail there about a certain CB, hydraulic system, and brake relationship which I can't even begin to recall.


I loved flying the Bus, but Boeing does take the cake with transparency of systems. For the most part, what you see is what you get. Not always so with the flying French computer.