FGD's summaries are of papers ... *not* scientific studies.
Dozy, you're drawing rather a long bow there to say that "papers" are not "scientific studies". One of the products of a scientific study/test/experiment is always a summary paper, detailing, among other things, the method and the results.
That paper, sometimes called a "white paper", will frequently make references to other, earlier research that has been done on a similar topic. Those references will consist of a one or two line summary of the research, together with citations of the name of the study and the authors (and the year).
Because that summary is only one or two lines, it may sound like mere opinion, but in reality, that summary will almost always be representative and accurate. It is in the author's interests to be accurate as he has made his name public, and his reputation is at stake!
... these loss of control crashes due to poor speed management are currently standing at 3 round dials and 2 tape displays. Hardly a ringing endorsement.
Dozy, I respectfully suggest you are being a bit selective with which accidents you are citing.
At issue is the fact that we have had a spate of accidents over the last five years where the aircraft has crashed due to stalling, and the airspeed decay prior to the stall went unnoticed by the pilots. It is only accidents with these circumstances that are relevant.
Birgenair 301 does not count. It stalled, yes, but the airspeed indicators were misreading. WCA 708 also does not count, as the co-pilot was aware of the airspeed and had correctly diagnosed the stall. Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 also does not count, as it did not even stall.
NWA 6231 also does not count, as it too had misreading airspeed indicators.
In the last five years, we have had the following 4 high profile accidents. All have shared the relevant circumstances:
Colgan Air 3407,
Turkish 1951,
Air France 447,
Asiana 214
All of these aircraft had the airspeed tape. When we look at the accident record for the 30 years of commercial aviation with the big round dial for airspeed, we cannot find anything remotely resembling this current trend.
To my knowledge, there is only 1 accident to a round dial aircraft that possibly fits the circumstances. That was United Airlines 553, the B737-200 that stalled on final approach to Chicago Midway in 1972, but given that it was the inadvertent flap retraction that brought on the stall, there is the possibility that this accident too, may not count.