After all the speculation about aquaplaning, which I had felt was a fairly strong case of what had occurred, we have been told that the flight recorder points to the pilot landing too far down the runway, leaving the plane inadequate runway distance left to decelerate to a slow taxiing speed, given the wet conditions which made braking a lot less effective.
The aircraft speed at 148 knots or 170 mph, just 8 knots or 9 mph over the ideal approach speed of 140 knots, wasn’t all that excessive. This wasn't a factor at all.
The landing half way down the runway appears rather unusual because most pilots would have approached an aerodrome in bad weather by the use of automated guidance system in a runway approach, if not in an auto-landing. Such systems are near fool-proof of the piloting errors that a human would make, and would have positioned the aeroplane safely to land on the runway with sufficient distance to roll to a comfortable walking pace, even in wet conditions.
What had motivated the pilots to conduct a manual approach that positioned them so far down the runway? It sure as hell doesn't good for them.
Related posts:
Air France 358 – the Likely Cause
AirFrance 358 – the Likely Cause (2)
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