bTripleSeven

CrewF16, on the MD80, funny enought there is a kind of periscope to check the position of the landing gear! It was one of the running gag we did to most of the new hostesses on board : Pretending the 3 greens lights were dead and ask her to check for the landing gear using the periscope!

fstul : " NOW, if at that point AT would have spooled down the engines the GA can be a disaster." Answer: YES it could be a disaster if you did not made your homework and look at your performance for a go around with one engine out. Since during planing phase and descend phase we look at those operational aspect IT IS NOT going to be a disaster if we go around after touching down.

Indeed the question is quite confusing: Did I ever saw a 777 landing with autopilot OFF and autothrust ON? Never. A bus? Neither. Let s recap how autothrust works on landing: Usually during the approach it is a speed mode that is selected, so ship maintain airspeed and autothrust adjust to that. When close to the ground, based on radio altimeters the autothrust will automatically retard the throttles to idle. Most of the time the mode is annunciated (vocal in airbus), on the PFD on Boeing. Of course there are always special cases but that`s for general operation. For low vis operation the 3 radio altimeters needs to be functional. Either the aircraft is smart enough to compare the 3 radio altimeters values and "downgrade" the system in case of one radio altimeter failure or in older planes the comparison was done by the pilots when one was calling out `five hundred`for example. What I love in Boeing is that the throttles are moving. So if by any chances the throttles should go to idle I would have an immediate feedback that something is wrong. Again, special cases apply = You are coming way too high on the ILS = your throttles are going to be hard idle anyway = you should not even consider continuing your approach if you are too low (see the 777 LAX accident). Last but not least, in your question you are mixing autoland and autothrust; Autoland flies the ship, autothrust maintain the speed. The 2 features are independent :you can engage autothrust without approach mode or you can engage approach mode without autothrust. Is that recommended? Absolutely not. Is that allowed? Depends on aircraft manufacturer and airline policy.

You will have to have real flight experience or get coached by someone flying or get used to read flying charts. Usually transition choice is influenced by rwy in use and intended route (FL, speed...). Look at 10-3N, 3P (..) on that link. Those are the "transitions" (aka routing) I could expect when leaving GVA. http://www.fly-sea.com/charts/LSGG.pdf So when punching into the box have those charts handy (airport SID STAR) and also your low level. Good luck.

This item is important to master into PNR (point of non return) calculation on long legs with limited alternates. Google for ESAD definition or PNR calculation for more.

On 777 we have the GMCS and you can see the engines from the tail cams. However during engine failure Boeing does not advise crew to use the camera to look at the engine condition (we cant use it also for tyre burst, surfaces jammed ...). Anyway if that would ever occurred to me in flight depending on workload and condition I will go and have a visual inspection after securing the engine. To your question, let s take the exemple of cargo smoke on a 777. Where would I put cameras? In the cargo bay, behind the sidewall, inside, under the floor? How would I lit the cargo bay? I need a switch for that. If I see fog in the cargo bay (due to difference in humidity and temperature from bleed air) how would I know it is fog and not smoke?(...) Do not forget that pilots are trained to operate a ship using procedure and respond to systems failure by using a checklist. That can kill you like on SR111, EL AL 1862. Would cameras have helped? Maybe. Bottom line from my prospective: Good idea, not practical.