I’ve read that turning on auto-pilot is a bit more involved than just “flipping a switch”. But do the controls work while auto-pilot is engaged or is it like cruise control in a car where the steering wheel still works and gas pedal will override whatever cruise is set for?
What i’m getting at is: lets say the passengers made it into the cockpit, have their hands on the hijacker and are dragging him out of the seat and/or just cut his throat. And lets assume there was an experienced airline pilot waiting just behind them ready to jump to the controls. While the muscle are struggling to disable or subdue the hijacker, is there anything the pilot could have done quickly to prevent the hijacker from just kicking the rudder or pushing the stick forward into a nose-dive? Or was it a one in a million chance even with a pilot ready to take over?
I am not a pilot, but my understanding of it is that yanking on the controls just causes the auto-pilot to shut off. This actually cause a plane to crash several years ago. A pilot had his kids in the cockpit and he let them take the controls. The son yanked a bit too hard on the control column and partially disconnected the auto-pilot. Since the auto-pilot was partially still engaged, the pilot thought it was still working and didn’t notice that things had gone wonky until the plane was too far out of control. The pilot wasn’t able to recover and the plane crashed.
The newer Airbus planes seem to have a different philosophy of flight. One of our resident pilots might be able to shed some light on whether something like the OP is possible on an Airbus. On a Boeing, I’m pretty sure it’s not possible, but again, I’m not a pilot.
If one grabs the controls, one is fighting the auto pilot, but the auto pilot is easily overpowered by design. If one then lets go of the controls, the autopilot resumes control.
Pretty much ^this.
The real challenge even for the fairly ideal setup in the OP is that the controls are real sensitive.
Imagine driving down the freeway in your car with your seat belt off then having somebody in a passenger seat grab the steering wheel and turn it quickly 45-90 degrees one way then the other a couple times. Everyone in the car will be bouncing around inside it while it skitters off into the grass going sideways/backwards.
Now try doing that in 3D. Anybody not strapped in will be bouncing off the ceiling. That’s assuming you don’t peel the tail or wings off with the first big inadvertent whack at the yoke.