Final answer:
In alternate law, the aircraft has reduced computerized flight protection. With the landing gear extended, the flight controls often revert to a mode offering pilots more direct control, relaxing protections and giving pilots greater authority over the pitch and speed during critical flight phases like landing.
Step-by-step explanation:
When an aircraft is in alternate law, a reduced level of computerized flight protection is available compared to the normal law. In the context of Airbus aircraft, the alternate law is a degraded mode that provides fewer restrictions on the flight envelope and fewer protections for the aircraft. When the landing gear is extended under alternate law, the flight control systems typically revert to a mode closer to direct law, where the flight control surfaces respond more directly to pilot inputs without the computer-enhanced protections that would otherwise filter and correct the inputs.
This is crucial for ensuring the pilots have more direct control of the aircraft during critical phases of flight such as landing. Under these conditions, the protections against stalling and overspeed are usually relaxed, allowing pilots to manually control the pitch and speed with greater authority. This shift aims to allow pilots to handle the aircraft safely in case the full flight envelope protections provided by the normal law are not available due to system degradation or failure.