My two cents
The MD11 is a demanding airplane say compared to a DC10, or L1011, B777, etc. It is not overly forgiving and it does suffer fools lightly. That is not to say that every pilot who has had an incident in this airplane is a fool or careless. Many damn good pilots have had an experiences to tell if they have flown the airplane more than a few thousand hours. It has been awhile since I have flown it, and possibly MD/Boeing has come out with some new procedures. I found it best to turn off the AT's and hand fly the airplane from a minimum of 1,000 AGL if the weather and other conditions permitted. Hand flying with the AT's engaged is not/was not recomended then and probably is not now as Boeing does not embrace using the AT's without the autopilot engaged unless you are in a takeoff or climb mode. The spoiler geometry on the MD11 is significantly different than the DC10. Maybe the MD10 is the same but I doubt it. The tendency for a nose pitchup after landing can be significant if the aircraft is not in trim at landing. The habit of disengaging the AT at or near touchdown is a set up for something nasty to follow. Leaving them engaged through the touchdown does not seem to be as bad as they will start coming back to idle as you pass through 47'. None the less nothing substitutes for simple airmanship when getting this airplane on the ground.
