Thomsonfly B733 disconnected autothrottle on approach results in 44 degrees pitch up

[NickN]

Sounds really nasty, they were lucky to get out alive......

A Thomsonfly Boeing 737-300, registration G-THOF performing flight BY-3894 from Faro (Portugal) to Bournemouth,EN (UK) with 132 passengers and 5 crew, performed an ILS approach to Bournemouth's runway 26 in night and IMC conditions, however the autothrottle system disconnected by itsself unrecognized by the crew, so that the thrust levers remained in their idle position. When the speed fell below the planned approach speed, the commander took control and initated a go-around, during which the crew lost elevator authority and could not prevent the nose to pitch up to 44 degrees and airspeed decay to 82 KIAS. Eventually the crew was able to recover the airplane and perform a safe landing..

Full article can be seen at http://avherald.com/h?article=419f2f9e&opt=0