Arguably one of the very best aero pilots ever, Art Scholl, was killed while flying and filming the Movie, "Top Gun". From memory, I think he was flying an Extra 300, but I think his favorite had been the Chipmunk. He entered a flat inverted spin and went into the Ocean with his a/c. The spin entry was planned, and needless to say, all were astonished when he failed to recover. When spin testing a/c, a drag chute is fitted to recover controlled flight if the control surfaces cannot. IMO it is safe to say 447 would have had an enormous challenge to 'merely' ditch, let alone recover from upset, given flight conditions. There is NO reason to believe the crew were anything less than heroic.
Will