Am I the only one here thinking that the climb was not induced by the pilots but by some sort of ill functioning protection?
moi aussi.
But the question is what were his instruments telling him?
If the static was blocked he would not have known that he was climbing.
If there was some pitot pressure and he climbed with blocked static then that would have indicated a reduction in IAS.
But it is still hard to believe with a correct horizon that he would pitch up.
Having declared a mayday with a hitherto unknown flight control malfunction on a classic aircraft I have a lot of sympathy for those who have to deal with modern aircraft - just spent two hours trying to get my computer to recognize my printer - unsuccessfully!
Despite AF resent history my money is on more than icing, pilot training and pilot error.