Part 6/8:
The Moment of Crisis
The most alarming phase occurred during the exercises of the fourth trainee’s attempt at a touch-and-go landing. After a series of irregularities, the flight control systems had devolved to a state called mechanical backup—meaning vital control inputs from the sidestick were rendered useless for pitch control, but the aircraft could still be controlled through stabilizer trim.
As the aircraft approached for the last landing, it experienced a bounce upon touching down due to several factors, including disarmed spoilers—this crucial error led to a situation where the first officer could not respond effectively to the captain’s command to rotate for takeoff.