That's an automated page linked to the airman database. Any of us can generate the same article. Not sure what the point is...maybe to impress chicks in a bar?

And I agree with you, Boeing is right, they should have flown the darn airplane.

Aroo? My understanding is after setting the G/A altitude he hit FLCH to get down on proper glideslope. The aircraft powered up and pitched up at which point he turned off the AP, pitched down manually, and manually brought the thrust levers back to idle into "throttle hold." (Boeing guys, is that right? Throttle hold?)

In the Airbus, if you bring the throttle back to idle, the auththrust system turns off. There is no "throttle hold" at that point. A/THR will disappear from the FMA and the power will be left at idle which is where the thrust lever was. It's obvious in this case the pilot thought the A/T was still engaged and would have kept him from getting too slow but apparently not what happened in the end.

On an Airbus, I believe if the thrust levers are reduced to idle the autothrust is deactivated, however the "Alpha floor" protection is available in normal law from lift off to 100' RA...

live NSTB probable cause meeting

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wa...-crash-n139231

The autothrottles were on the whole time. I was taught in groundschool that the autothrottles would protect your speed. That is what or checkairmen thought. That is what the FAA test pilot thought.I assume that is what the Asiana pilots thought. But, Boeing didn't build the software that way, and they didn't think it was important to tell anyone else...so almost everyone who flew a Boeing product assumed that if the autothrottles were on, you were speed protected.

It was just like the previous Boeing situation, where if you arrived at the MAP, the automation would automatically go around. Boeing assumed that if you were landing out of a non-precision approach, the pilot would have all the automation off before the MAP...but they didn't tell anyone that, so it led to an accident.After the accident, Boeing changed the software.

NTSB: Pilot Error
 

Pilots blamed for Asiana crash - CNN.com

(CNN) -- Pilots botched the approach and landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco nearly a year ago, causing a crash that killed three people and injured 187 others, U.S. safety investigators concluded on Tuesday.
But the National Transportation Safety Board also found that crew training and the complexities of a key flight system on the Boeing 777 and how it was described in operating manuals contributed to the July 6 disaster.
Investigators, however, primarily faulted the crew of the Korean-based carrier for not fully executing intricate systems of the jetliner packed with more than 300 people before it struck a seawall and careened down the runway trailing sparks and debris.
In a final report on its probe, the board found that the flight crew mismanaged the plane's descent being carried out without the help of navigational instruments and one of the pilots unintentionally deactivated a system that automatically regulates airspeed.
The crew also delayed its decision to abort the landing with the plane flying too slowly to avoid catastrophe, investigators found.

That's all very interesting. However, you do understand that relying on auto-throttles to the extent that you leave airspeed out of your cross-check a fraction of a second longer than you would if you had manual throttles is really bad technique. They're not perfect and obviously they have subtleties in their operation. Fly the darn airplane and don't "assume" any auto "protection" mode is going to save you from yourself.

Boeing probably just assumed they were building these airplanes for pilots. Silly them. :rolleyes:

You might want to go back and check out the auto throttle wake up parameters in you flight manual.

Not sure is this has been posted or not.

Awareness degradation is naturally the cumulative result of an excessive reliance on auto flight systems over time.