Originally Posted by
80ktsClamp
They were in FLCH. Autothrottle wake-up is inhibited 100% of the time in FLCH.
....and that is quite a poor design.
I don't believe it is a poor design because the entire idea of FLCH is to pitch for speed. Had the autopilot been engaged, they never would have stalled. He put the airplane into a pitch for airspeed mode and didn't hold the required pitch. They also failed miserably at basic airmanship and CRM/TEM.