Indeed The Shadow a great post. Thank you.
However let's cut to the chase. Has anyone flown the AF scenario in the simulator and successfully brought the A330 out of its super stall? It is either possible or it isn't.
Now with the enlightenment that it is not just T tailed jets that can end up in this predicament, then some of the protections that are fitted to rear engined aircraft must be considered for other types. High speed, high altitude stall recovery must be trained for or preferably, a better awareness of what is causing an erroneous speed indication. If Air France knew there were issues with the Thales pitot tubes, it was allegedly grossly negligent that they did not either train for the situation the crew of AF 447 found themselves in, or accelerated the replacement of the defective parts.
Perhaps it is time to look at a safer design from the past. The VC10 is the only T-tailed airliner never to have been involved in a deep stall situation. The "10" had a very large and powerful tailplane which was mounted high and swept back. If a stall did occur the elevators were situated well aft from the wing blanking effect. The AF A-330 was lost from an altitude of 38,000 feet, but the VC10's were frequently flown at 43,000 feet with a little help from the droops. Other designs such as the Trident and 1-11 proved in testing to be irrecoverable in a deep stall without a tail chute.
I find it hard to believe that with all of its automated protective systems, this A330 was lost from such a high altitude in an apparently unrecoverable stall. Perhaps Boeing have got it right?
Last edited by Count Niemantznarr; 3rd Jun 2011 at 09:54.