Originally Posted by rr_ndb
Pitotīs failure (e.g. at cruise) are not sudden ("digital"). They start to be transformed, in altimeters for example, gradually. Thiells 727 (NW N274US) showed this gradual deterioration. I think that an encounter of a dangerous icing condition when cruising, is also gradual, technically allowing a warning (of this crucial info) before "law switching" by the Systems.
RR_NDB, please meet BEA Release, especially the rather highlighted piece of the report.
Originally Posted by BEA Release
From 2 h 10 min 05 , the autopilot then auto-thrust disengaged and the PF said "I have the controls". The airplane began to roll to the right and the PF made a left nose-up input. The stall warning sounded twice in a row. The recorded parameters show a sharp fall from about 275 kt to 60 kt in the speed displayed on the left primary flight display (PFD), then a few moments later in the speed displayed on the integrated standby instrument system (ISIS).
A "sharp fall" is not a gradual drop.