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I'm not a pilot, but the ability to set the throttle to idle (including all auto-controls) while the plane is in the air without warnings seems dangerous to me. It sounds like a better indication that there was no thrust may have helped the pilots recognize the error sooner.

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Flying at idle throttle is completely normal when descending from cruise to final approach. What's not normal is certain patterns of airspeed and altitude loss, and I agree, you could probably come up with better indicators for that.

It's not unbelievable using idle thrust in the air. It's inexcusable to not watch your air speed though.

That's my thought. I can think of a few times where it might make sense, mostly to burn off speed or altitude; but if you're that low and already under the suggested approach speed it seems like it's almost certainly a mistake.

I'm surprised they had to get so low before the stall warning system kicked in (given the speed and throttle position).

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