sensor_validation;
Not mentioned for a while - but if initial problem was caused by icing - what about the effect of ice crystals on the engines, did they somehow "roll back" meaning level flight with "pitch and power" not an option? This phenomena still subject to research
If for any reason the engines rolled back, level flight is not possible, but forward flight is, and at the same airspeed as before or, more likely a slower, gliding speed. The A330 glides extremely well, far better than any Cessna, (but at a lot faster speed in the glide - best L/D for the A330 at 205T would have been about 245kts), and a heavier aircraft glides further than a light aircraft and takes longer to get down. A glide from FL350 to sea level with no engine power would take about 20 - 25 minutes and cover from 80 to 120nm depending upon weight, wind and some other factors. For comparison, under idle thrust, 30 - 35 minutes, 110 to 150nm to lose 35,000ft. The shorter distance with engine failure is due in part to the large windmilling frontal surfaces presented to the airflow by the N1's.
With dual engine failure you still have pitch of course so you have speed control, (governed, really, by AoA). The QRH Unreliable airspeed drill has the pitch-for-airspeed tables, and the QRH Dual Engine Failure (With Fuel) has airspeed to glide at. The ditching would be done with Config FULL, if available, (windmilling engines will power the hydraulics to some extent) and gear up and, as Sully showed us all, could be survivable under the right conditions.
I'm pretty sure this didn't occur and have written what I thought happened, but the recorders may mock us all...
wes_wall;
Regarding altering the SSFDR and SSCVR to suit certain interests, can you describe for me how that could be done and how it would avoid detection by those who do flight data analysis and sound spectrometry in their sleep? Thanks.