This is really strange. Not only did they have a dual engine failure, they couldn't restart while stuck on the runway. After 40 minutes, the aircraft had to be towed in. Then maintenance couldn't find a fault.
This is an ANA aircraft, which means it's probably maintained well and flown by competent pilots. Looking forward to a good analysis on this.
Most large aircraft have a "weight on wheels" switch, activated when the aircraft is on the ground. There might be some bad interaction between the "weight on wheels" sensing and the thrust reverser protection. Pure speculation: initial touchdown, pilots deploy reversers, small bounce into the air, weight on wheels switches open, engine controller detects flight condition with thrust reversers deployed and shuts down engines.
The other side of this kind of failure is dealing with unintended thrust reverser deployment in flight. Here's an overview.[1] Historically, it wasn't a big deal at altitude, but on some newer aircraft, it is, and so stronger steps have been taken to avoid it.
Your speculative scenario has actually happened, but on a significantly less computerized Boeing 737, in 1978.[1]
In that case, the aircraft touched down, reversers were deployed, a runway obstacle (a snowplow) appeared, and the pilots attempted to go around. They got airborne and cleared the obstacle, but as they lifted off, the "squat switches" on the main gear opened. One of the reversers was still deployed, and with the squat switches open, was no longer powered, and could not retract. The aircraft was uncontrollable, and crashed.
In that case, shutting down the reversed engine would likely have been preferable, although if we're doing counter-factuals, telling the snowplow driver about the airplane's revised arrival time is your go-to move, I think.
It might be less of a small bounce than the nose wheel not being on the ground and/or not having enough weight on it. I know Airbus and Boeing handle this differently, but I don't remember the details (I want to say Airbus allows reverse thrust once the mains are firmly on the ground but the nose isn't, but I need to check my manuals).
I really do find the inability to restart extremely interesting though. I'd bet it's a bug somewhere, but it would be alarming if Boeing programmed in a lock-out on the failed engine(s) (I've heard it talked about as a solution to the sudden deployment of reverse thrust in flight) .
This is an ANA aircraft, which means it's probably maintained well and flown by competent pilots. Looking forward to a good analysis on this.
Most large aircraft have a "weight on wheels" switch, activated when the aircraft is on the ground. There might be some bad interaction between the "weight on wheels" sensing and the thrust reverser protection. Pure speculation: initial touchdown, pilots deploy reversers, small bounce into the air, weight on wheels switches open, engine controller detects flight condition with thrust reversers deployed and shuts down engines.
The other side of this kind of failure is dealing with unintended thrust reverser deployment in flight. Here's an overview.[1] Historically, it wasn't a big deal at altitude, but on some newer aircraft, it is, and so stronger steps have been taken to avoid it.
[1] https://lessonslearned.faa.gov/ll_main.cfm?TabID=3&LLID=34&L...