> But it is entirely possible that nobody pulled the reversers while still airborne in 9 years, because it's a very strange thing to do.
That's overstating the case a bit. I'm 100% a layman here but I'd agree that the behavior seems like some sort of bug. But…… some planes (typically not commercial, although the Concord is one notable exception) call for reversers in flight under certain circumstances. Additionally there are definitely circumstances where a pilot might deliberately think reversers before touchdown are a good idea.
That's overstating the case a bit. I'm 100% a layman here but I'd agree that the behavior seems like some sort of bug. But…… some planes (typically not commercial, although the Concord is one notable exception) call for reversers in flight under certain circumstances. Additionally there are definitely circumstances where a pilot might deliberately think reversers before touchdown are a good idea.