One thing that has bugged me is that the flight control system very quickly gave up control when it lost airspeed information. In these degraded modes, I can understand dropping off the autopilot, but going to a degraded mode just because you lost two airspeed sensors is silly.
Others have theorized that using GPS/INS inputs could have been substutited for the missing pitot information, but actually there was, most likely a more simple solution and it is/was actually there all the time.
In every FADEC engine I have seen, the engine control requires total pressure at the engine inlet (so called PT2 sensors). I don't know what PT2 sensors are on the GE engines on the A330, but I'd pretty much bet that EACH engine has at least two of them. PT2 sensors are measuring the same thing as a the pilots pitot probe and the information could be readily suppled over the data bus to the aircraft. If the engine PT2 probes would have lost data in this event there would have been engine fault codes and a loss of engine control (engine FADEC failure), and that didn't happen. Since it didn't it is pretty safe to say they didn't have a loss of PT2 data in the FADECs.
It very likely that there were at least 4 or more total pressure probes that could have supplied sufficient information to keep the flight control system happy while the primary system sorted itself out.
Yes I know full well there are going to be certification issues with this kind of system. Probe life, reliability, and high angle of attack calibration are all issues, as well as issues related to continuing airworthiness if probes are changed from one type to another.
But all of that is paperwork. If they really wanted or needed that information, it was/is there all the time.
This goes back to what level of redundency do you need to be safe, but really, the extra data was most likely there all the time, all it would have taken is a programming change and the issue would never have arisen.
Maybe somebody with intimate knowledge of the CF6 in this installation can chime in on how the engine gets it PT2 information, but my guess, based on the dozen or two engines that I am most familiar with is that the data is out there.