This United23 Newark-Dublin descent (FL250-235) incident has been somewhat "under the radar" and was only - pretty briefly - discussed here at the time as a "turbulence and minor injuries" incident. But it's clear that it was much more than that.
The Irish AAIU has just issued its
final report which makes for more serious reading. And which report - quite explicitly, in an appendix - draws certain parallels with other recent Unreliable Airspeed Incidents following on pitot icing events (think AF447...). Basically it a tale of a minor weather event (perhaps avoidable...) that soon led to unreliable data in the cockpit, non-standard ("
startled") crew responses, poor cockpit communication, and mistaken diagnoses and choices, with consequent damage to the aircraft plus injuries to cabin crew and passengers (fortunately minor). The flight crew - in the various immediate de-briefs and later interviews - seemed largely unaware of (and rather unclear about) what had actually happened during the incident. And - one must add - their training, the available documentation and - maybe - even the data and warnings presented to them don't seem optimal either.
As ever, worth a careful read.
But for the grace of........