Originally Posted by
Lonewolf_50
airtren, I am puzzled at one of your suggestions.
I am also intrigued by your trying to follow a reasoning process based on what we know, the idea that the PF was keen to change altitude.
Hadn't considered that line of thought previously.
1) at least subliminally, the PF words indicate what he may have or would consider, 2) BEA's mentioning of those words, among a quite careful and succinct "selection" of "word exchanges" between pilots, must have a significance.
....
Also, if I get a stall warning, is my first thought "I need to climb a bit to avoid ice?"
I think both pilots understood the relationship between the cloud/turbulence, possibly ice in contact with the windshield, and the loss of speed, and considered the first Stall Warning at FL 350 in light of that, and possible the one following at approx FL375, as only the left speed was showing a reasonable speed, as the ISIS came back in sync with the left speed indicator only a minute and some 10 seconds or so later.
Note: this is within the limits of the interpretation of the correspondence between actions/events and time scale in the BEA text,
You are able, in pax mode, to measure/sense at cruise altitude a change in a few hundred feet of altitude?
Measure? SURE NOT, I didn't have on me any measuring device.
Sense? Yes, of course.
It was not only the clear sense that the plane was climbing, during its short climbing, but also the clear difference of the level of clouds with many holes, which was bellow the flight level before, and after the exit of the short presence in the high cloud, heavy turbulence.