Flight 401 - Autopilot indicator

An adjunct mystery which never really was solved was whether the altitude hold light extinguished when the function disengaged. In both Gellert's and Oakes' cases, they noted the autopilot light went out when they bumped the columns. But Stockstill might have been deceived by the mismatched autopilot computers on N310EA. There are two autopilot systems, an "A" and a "B." Because the computers were mismatched, Loft's side required 15 pounds of pressure to disengage, and Stockstill's side required 20 pounds of pressure. Had Loft bumped the column with more than 15, but less than 20 pounds of pressure, Loft's altitude hold light would have gone out, and Stockstill's light would remain on, giving him the erroneous impression that the autopilot was still engaged and holding the plane at two thousand feet. This could be the case, however, only if Stockstill had selected the "A" computer, which would be unlikely as the switch for the "A" computer is on Loft's side of the control panel. Either way, the NTSB did not believe that this was a critical factor in the accident.