Quote Will Fraser:
Is it possible for the crash to have happened if the pitots had functioned properly? The answer is yes, but demands accepting coincidental events at long odds.
Why is it that you always jump before looking?
Last week you were ready to believe that rocket garbage was a part of an A330, the week before, what was it? The Rudder Travel Limiter, ALT2, Autopilot Failure Beyond Cheek Gyro Limits? At one time or another you've ascribed cause to so many different factors I've lost count.
You should rethink your statement because you've got it backwards. Is it
probable that the crash happened due to the assumed, but still unverified, failure of the pitots? Obviously not, as we now have any number of reports of similar failures occuring which were managed successfully by the crew. It's a serious failure should it occur, but it is not one that should be outside the ability of a normal crew to deal with successfully.
It's not impossible, but it's improbable that this in itself is the "cause". More probable is that it is a result of one of those "coincidental events at long odds" that we can, so far, only speculate about. It would not be demanding acceptance of long odds to recognize that these other factors may be causative but it is taking long odds to describe them, without any supporting evidence, as being subordinate in cause to the issue of the pitots.
ELAC