-- Associated Press -- At a news conference in The Hague, Mr Van Vollenhoven said the plane had been at an altitude of 595m (1950ft) when making its landing approach to Schiphol airport.Technology can certainly be a double-edged sword. Even here at the relatively low-tech "Halls".
But the altimeter recorded an altitude of around ground level.
The plane was on autopilot and its systems believed the plane was already touching down, he said.
The automatic throttle controlling the two engines was closed and they powered down. This led to the plane losing speed, and stalling.
For example... the house here was built so tight, that we require an air exchanger (hooked up to our contantly rotating furnace blower) to use our woodstove. If that system hiccups, we're on electric heat... and that's assuming the problem isn't with the blower motor.
I'm no luddite... but I firmly believe that sometimes... "simple is better". I'm just not sure you can put this particular technology genie back in the bottle.
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