Originally Posted by JumboJet
I also posted this in News Stand but figured it would generate more response here.
Pilot Violated Southwest Policy
December 14, 2005
BY MARK J. KONKOL Transportation Reporter
The Southwest Airlines pilot at the helm during Thursday's snowy crash at Midway Airport told federal investigators he used the Boeing 737's "autobrakes," a device airline officials say their pilots are told not to activate.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said they found the autobrake switch in the "maximum" position on the flight panel. The system is designed to activate when the landing gear hits the runway.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...-midway14.html
From my reading of the article, the reason Southwest's policy says don't use the autobrake is that it engages the brakes
earlier than a pilot would do manually -- not later. So I don't see how this would have contributed to the accident. (The reason for the policy, from my understanding of the article, is that they like to wait until the aircraft has slowed below 80 knots before applying the brakes because braking at high speed heats up the brakes which means they need longer to cool before the flight is allowed to take off again, thus causing a problem for turn times.)