Clandestino: What you are referring to is static stability and that airbus lacks it in normal and alternate law is total non-event.
You should tell BEA. They obviously dont know about it.
BEA Final report
However, positive longitudinal static stability on an aeroplane can be useful since it allows the pilot to have a sensory return (via the position of the stick) on the situation of his aeroplane in terms of speed in relation to its point of equilibrium (trim) at constant thrust. Specifically, the approach to stall on a classic aeroplane is always associated with a more or less pronounced nose-up input. This is not the case on the A330 in alternate law. The specific consequence is that in this control law the aeroplane, placed in a configuration where the thrust is not sufficient to maintain speed on the flight path, would end up by stalling without any inputs on the sidestick. It appears that this absence of positive static stability could have contributed to the PF not identifying the approach to stall.
Clandestino: You are right. How could they realize when they were suddenly faced with 200+ kt drop in IAS?
You should have helped BEA with their report. They got it wrong again.
BEA Final report 2.1.2.4 Identification of the situation
Three seconds after the autopilot disconnection, the ECAM displays no information that is likely to point to a speed indication problem:
The ECAM mentions a maximum speed that should not be exceeded but does not mention a minimum speed. This could lead crews to suppose that the main risk is overspeed. In the absence of any reliable speed indication, this might lead to a protective nose-up input that is more or less instinctive.
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Thus, having identified the loss of airspeed information, the PNF turned his attention to the ECAM, undoubtedly in an attempt to refine his diagnosis and to monitor any actions displayed. He started to read the messages, and consequently called out the loss of autothrust and the reconfiguration to alternate law. The successive display of different messages probably added to the confusion experienced by the crew in its analysis and management.
In the absence of a specific message expressing detection of unreliable speed by the systems, the crew was unable to identify any logical link between the symptoms perceived and these ECAM messages. The impression of an accumulation of failures created as a result probably did not incite the crew to link the anomaly with a particular procedure, in this case the “Vol avec IAS douteuse” procedure.