Originally posted by elaw
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I haven't read the whole report, but my understanding is airspeed decayed in spite of "Otto" applying increasing throttle.
It strange that en MD-80 at 31000ft with both engines maxed out would not have enough thrust to sustain flight
Another explanation could be that there is nothing wrong with the engines or their indication but that extremely hot air (for that altitude) was brought up by the vertical convection of the tropical storms, so the air density at 31000ft was greatly diminished and it "felt" as if it was say 43000ft. I haven't checked yet but I guess that the temperature increase above ISA would be ridiculous to make it happen.
OTOH I think the fuel controllers in those engines meter the fuel based in part on the pressure reading at the engine inlet.
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