Come on guys, for all we know they DID check the GPS/inertial ground speed. The report just does not tell us anything of the sort, just as it does not tell us anything else other than some stuff that does not make any sense at all. So please don't say: why did they not do this or that. We just don't know yet.
Of course a lot of scenarios spring to mind, but none can be verified.
Take for example the 16,5 degree pitch up that someone suggested might be a windshear avoidance reaction. Well, maybe. But you would expect TOGA to be applied in such a situation, which did not happen untill much much later! So much for the windshear scenario.
Did the PF think he was overspeeding, hence the initial pull up? Maybe. But he did not close the thrust levers untill 3 minutes after this pitch up.
So no matter what scenario you (or I) come up with, it does not make ANY sense. We are not given crucial information.
Anyway, to me, just as puzzling is the weather these guys were in and it surprises me there is no more discussion about it. There must have been a lot of water floating around at FL350 to cause the pitots to block. I have never flow commercially in those regions so I can't talk from experience about this. So what I'm asking is, is it known to have icing at those altitudes without entering a CB? Is it common? Is it possible?
Last edited by PENKO; 28th May 2011 at 16:24.