We still have to consider how much altitude might be lost in pitching the aircraft down.
Originally Posted by 3rd BEA Interim report
The recordings stopped at 2 h 14 min 28 . The last recorded values were a vertical speed of -10,912 ft/min, a ground speed of 107 kt, pitch attitude of 16.2 degrees nose-up, roll angle of 5.3 degrees left and a magnetic heading of 270 degrees.
My experience in the A-4 Skyhawk which had a similar THS configuration to the A330, and the results of the Perpignan A320 accident lead me to believe that the THS trim is going to pace the recovery.
If that assumption is correct, then I'm guessing 20 seconds minimum of nose down stick would be required to recover to flying AOA, (based somewhat on how long it took to trim nose up). As the aircraft begins to nose down, the descent rate will increase to perhaps 15,000 fpm and the IAS will begin to increase. If those assumptions are correct, then you will use about 5000 feet in pitching the aircraft down.
With ~4400 feet to then pull out, that would seem to indicate that 10,000 feet is about the last point one could hope to begin recovery. But there are some BIG assumptions in there.
I did the ~250', zero airspeed, straight down data point once in a Luscombe, and I don't intend to repeat that experiment. I had 5' reserve altitude on completion.
The big question on the pullout was, "am I achieving all possible performance? " The consequences of exceeding the performance limits were rather stark. Fortunately, I felt the burble over the ailerons that told me there was no more performance available.
My big question that day would apply equally to AF447's potential stall recovery since they did not have AOA indicators.