Good post F-16
On another note, I still wonder what might have broken with such short notice as hinted at on the CVR. The crew offers a few expletives and then the plane crashes within 90 seconds........
I am wondering if the Capt spilt his drink all over the centre console? This would account for the expletives from both - I can just imagine that happening. Then, the liquid started to cause short circuits and failures in the equipment as it dripped down. I don't know the physical avionics layout of the CRJ, but this is a possibility. The liquid could also have caused an IRU failure and/or the PFD source to switch so that both were on the same IRU. Faced with a rapid series of aircraft failures and cautions, and with hot coffee all over his trousers might explain why the Captain did not make a sensible reaction. (Although, the command 'you have control' might have helped).
Unfortunately when the poo hits the fan there will be no one other than the crew to resolve these sort of problems. Is that not what a professional pilot is required to do?
The failures would have been covered in the initial training. As well as the cycle of failures that will form the recurrent training by an ATO there is normally time to practice those little extra items if you ask the trainer.
These days we have the luxury of FCOMs in PFD format that can be read and studied on mobile devices. No excuse not to know the systems and procedures required in doing the job.
Yes, that is all well and good, but after average duty periods these days (i.e., long) and with today's average pilot rosters, folk are not going to be studying the FCOM on their phones in their precious time off.
In my experience, there is rarely spare time in the SIM, and even if there is, the other two want to bugger off so one feels one cannot ask for them to stay so you can practise something or look at a scenario.
Modern automatic aircraft are so complex that crews rarely get to experience all of the failure modes in the SIM. Even if they did experience all failures during initial training does not mean that they will have perfect recall of it and the appropriate actions on a dark and stormy night many years later.
In my opinion, not enough time is spent in recurrent SIMs practising unusual attitude recovery and instrument failures or unusual indications. Were this to be done, who knows, perhaps this crew and AF447's and many others would still be alive?