VR-HFX;
pitot's will kill you all
At the risk of resurrecting old themes in this thread, pitots (loss of),
in and of themselves will NOT kill you.
It is the response to loss of pitot or static information which can either keep you alive or kill.
Since the Birgenair and Aeroperu B757 accidents, it is standard for QRHs to have Unreliable Airspeed memory items and drills to cope with this loss. Aircraft with GPS have an added advantage but GPS is not necessary to survive such a loss of data.
As long as the QRH memory items and follow-up drills are followed and cockpit discipline is maintained and leadership executed, (someone flying, someone reading/doing/supporting), there is a very good chance that neither the failure nor the outcome will be a serious one and will instead provide time to sort out the failure. I have had such a failure, (B767, captain's pitot, dark winter night over the mountains, turbulent, low departure vis precluding a return) and at the time we had no drill but sorted out who was correct and flew pitch and power and the reliable data until descending into warmer air at destination.
I fully acknowledge the challenging environment in which the AF447 crew may have found themselves. Cascading failures in any aircraft, due to loss of flight information, is extremely challenging, made much worse by moderate or heavier turbulence, a dark, moonless night, surprise, system warnings and perhaps calls from the back.
Loss of control does not follow from loss of pitot information, however.
To me, the SPAF "report" may be more of a legal and strategic "placeholder", perhaps wisely placed, perhaps not - we will see. Regardless, it is impossible to state what the crew did or did not do at this point of the investigation and so nothing may be said about their performance or response until more is known. While it is trite to say it, the desperate need for answers does not
provide answers.