Bubbers44
Yes, I guess occasionally AOA would be helpful with plugged pitot tubes but these guys couldn't have figured it out no matter what they had, they both panicked so couldn't fly the airplane. They needed the captain to sort it out for them because they couldn't. Kind of a sorry state for our new pilots who need someone to watch over them.
I generally agree that AF447's crew's training was deficient. Initially I thought that issues in roll control overrode the pilot's ability to keep the nose where he wanted it, but now I am inclined to believe that the PF could have been in Normal law and would still have caused a climb because his scan was completely broken and disfunctional.
He palmed the stick from the start. The amplitude and frequency of control movement is the indicator. That is no way to fly smoothly!
The PNF must have been so concerned with the PF's technique, he didn't start the UAS drill, but instead nagged him to control the aircraft. (The PF's control technique was a greater emergency than UAS.)
He should have given him an ultimatum to get the aircraft back on altitude or he would take control-and then acted. PNF's efforts to get the Captain back on the flight deck delayed proper corrective action tremendously. Sometimes you just have to take charge, whether you are mentally ready or not.
If you were to ask the average Airbus pilot to fly an S-1 or S-3 pattern manually in alternate 2 law (with a little turbulence to make things interesting) up at cruise altitude, I think a lot would be very embarassed.
I don't think the average B pilot is likely to do much better in his favorite machine either. (Note: S-1 and S-3 Patterns are USN basic instrument instruction maneuvers). Maybe we need to emphasize instrument fundamentals again.
S-1 pattern
S-3 Pattern
