nobody wrote:

Pete wrote:

I thought that was one of the main advantages of fly-by-wire systems,
to eliminate truly stupid actions of pilots. Sounds like Airbus shares
a lot of blame for the crash.


The A300-600 is not fly by wire. It is a 1970s plane updated to some extent
in the 1980s.

And I have been told that because rudders are so rarely used in flight that
Airbus didn't actually make it "smart" with software to restrict movement
depending on airplane's speed etc on its FBW planes.

The first FBW passenger airliner, the A320, has some residual non FBW
capability to allow the aircraft to be flown (though not landed, I
think) with the FBW system inoperative, the idea being that the problem
might be fixable in the air. I have a feeling (don't quote me) that the
rudder is part of that residual ability.

This design philosophy may or may not have been continued.

Sylvia.