Originally Posted by
Sunamer
For god's sake, the PF stalled the AC in unreliable airspeed situation, and rode it stalled (while pulling SS aft) all the way to the ocean surface. That is hardly a strange or unexpected situation.
Airbus pilots spend most of their actual flying time in Normal law. Pulling the SS aft causes the aircraft to climb (increases thrust and you get stall protection), that's how it flies. Even with the master caution light on, the ECAM alert for Alternate law is not very obvious. So muscle memory in the Airbus says to climb I pull back on the stick, and the aircraft does everything else - I am sure his brain was thinking, I am pulling back on the stick, why are we still descending? A: aircraft is stalled, in alternate law and there is no stall protection.
My assumption is Airbus pilots get trained in alternate law and the differences in control behavior and envelope protection. But muscle memory is another thing.