Letting go of the stick would have saved 447. So what are you going to do after descending 5 min. If you couldn't fly the aircraft before what happens in those magic 5 min? Divine intervention? You PA for a pilot on board?
This is not rocket science. Just learn how to fly the aircraft you are on. It's that simple.
One of the joys of flying a Bus is that for the most part it flies above the weather. If you ice probes you have hit a warmer air mass. Descending will keep you in Icing conditions delaying getting airspeed indication back, and will probably descend you into the weather and turbulence. This will greatly increase the workload. If a pilot can not handle loss of airspeed in a stable cruise situation, he will be very challenged now.
In aviation it's best to keep it simple. In the cruise if you loose the airspeed indication select the power and attitude you had prior to the loss. Run the checklist. Job done. If you want to get all fancy turn the bird on, but understand that attitude is what you need to fly, and bird will determine if you need more or less thrust.
Last edited by donpizmeov; 30th Oct 2016 at 09:32.