B737-700
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 271; Flight Crew Type 7500
Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Aircraft
During climb; I was the pilot flying and after receiving a climb clearance and dialing the new altitude in the Altitude Preselect window; I failed to notice VNAV had disengaged and Vertical Speed had engaged. As I noticed the airspeed low and was disengaging the autopilot and auto throttles; the Airspeed Low Aural Warning sounded briefly as I was advancing power and lowering the nose of the aircraft. Airspeed recovered quickly and the flight was completed without further event. All ATC clearances were adhered to. Aircraft did not stall. Airspeed quickly recovered after lowering the nose of the aircraft. In retrospect; I have seen the VNAV disengage numerous times on Company aircraft. Monitoring the FMA closer would have prevented this from occurring.
A B737-700 Captain reported a near-stall incident in climb when the aircraft dropped out of VNAV into Vertical Speed mode. Reporter stated this is not an uncommon occurrence.