Carjockey
Yes, there were audio stall warnings on the flight deck of AF 447, but did any of these warnings advise the pilots to decrease AOA?
No.
Why not?
That is what the STALL STALL audio warning is for telling the "pilot", reduce the AOA NOW!!!!! Why the "pilot" in AF did not do so we will never know.
Multiple audio warnings and multiple ECAM messages on the flight deck only serve to distract the pilots from the job in hand. Passenger aircraft should be designed to give the pilots the option of disabling all automated systems and of taking full manual control when required.
We are able to do so! Why do you think there are two pilots, one is pilot flying and one is pilot monitoring who runs the ECAM. The PF only has to crosscheck Thrust lever / Fuel Cut off switch / Fire switch and any guarded switch that the PM has to operate. So there should be NO major distraction. As PF you have to FLY the A/C first and unfortunately the PF in this case did not appear to do so!
Pilots should be trained and tested to ensure that they are skilled enough to do this.
As I understand it, this is not currently the case..
Most pilots are and most airlines ensure this is so, again we will never KNOW why the PF did what he did and why the PM never took control!!!
My only concern is the MPL, which is a whole new topic, this "training" will be fine and dandy for box ticking, but does not instill the life preservation skills that each pilot needs.