Originally Posted by
TheInquisitor
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plenty of evidence to suggest they may not have been stalled. That they were close to the stall appears to be in no doubt.
I sincerely hope you are not a Pilot. If so, please let me know which Airline so I can avoid it.
Even if you are in a glide it is not a good idea to fly close to stall Speed, no matter what the circumstance. This only reduces your vital margins (against stall or loss of directional control) and Options (by significantly deteriorating L/D and thus glide distance).
Stall is at Cl max. Best L/D is at waaayyy lower Angle of attack than this. Hadn't they flown so slowly they might have been able to pass the Bridge without stalling and losing the left wing. This would have increased chances of survival even after the fatal mistake of shutting down the wrong engine (which - admittedly- isn't a first in aviation).
In so far People who insist on: Keep airspeed, don't rush things are absolutely right. This case here is about as good an example for this as it gets.