“Even the US UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) still have pilots at the controls.”
Not anymore.
“This situation could have been averted in a conventional control cockpit:”
This exact accident has happened in several “traditional cockpits” including modern glass jets.
“particularly with regard to whether it would even be possible to recover a deeply stalled 330”
Of course it’s possible. BUT, having pulled close to full back stick for so long, the stab would have crept to full nose up and can take up to ONE MINUTE for it to return to neutral with full forward stick. This is a long time for a confused crew who are getting stall warnings AND overspeed warnings at the same time and are not fully clear as to what problem is affecting them.
This was a totally save able situation BUT its arrogant to take the high moral ground when analyzing from the arm chair. Accidents have occurred at the hands of the most experienced crews. The AF crash unfolded VERY quickly with a failure that has caught more than one experienced Airbus pilot unaware. These guys had more master cautions and warnings and ECAMS being thrown at them in one minute than most of us have had in a 4-hour sim mission.
I am glad it didn’t happen to me in the middle of the night with heavy eyelids.
Incoming………