Old Carthusian:
The pitot tube issue despite being the trigger is actually irrelevant to what caused the accident and I think one has to be careful not to attribute a major design flaw to the pitot tubes. To say that there is something wrong with the aircraft is a value judgment implying a serious problem. Remember, according to BEA the pitot tube problem in this incident did clear itself up after a short period.
In spite of meeting certification specifications, heating of pitot probes is hardly rocket science, and to have them ice up repeatedly in a $multi-million plane means the design or maintenance is inadequate. The Thales AA probes were condemned, as were the Thales AB probes. Even the Goodrich replacements on an A330 have suffered at least one icing event.
This points to either unfortunate placement of the probes, or insufficient heating from the airplane's power source. Something as minor as probe bonding to aircraft skin could adversely affect the heat transfer.
Yeh, I suppose you could argue if it hadn't been iced pitots, some other event would have eventually brought that (incompetent) crew to grief. I don't buy it.