Flat Spin Recovery?
......... However, my understanding is that they hit the water nose high and wings level with a high sink rate and minimal yaw. That suggests an upset into a high-speed spiral dive with a recovery in progress when they ran out of altitude, rather than a flat spin which would result in a completely different water entry.
It appears that AF447 came down rapidly, but how did it dissipate all that energy in perhaps 5-8 minutes and then impact at relatively low airspeed and high angle of attack? To me it suggests they were locked in a stable deep stall and couldn't break it. Swept wing aircraft do pitch up in a deep stall and that can completely overpower the tail's corrective abilities. An aft CG makes it worse. With airliners, particularly FBW ones you just are not supposed to get in a deep stall in the first place.
