Old news but good article by Wm Langewiesche on Air France 447

[Bill Watson]

Extending the legacy, William Langewiesche does some of the best aviation writing around. Very accessible story for non-aviation readers.
Vanity Fair - Air France 447 - Oct 2014

 

[Jim Logajan]

And yet ...

all that automation has made airline flying safer than at any other time in the short history of aviation. It is among the safest forms of transportation ever devised.

 

[Jim Logajan]

There was a design feature that, in an extreme corner, contributed to the accident.

The extreme corner was a direct consequence of the pilot's initial action. Enough to cause the airplane to pass all the way through the stall speed regime the engineers thought reasonable to report. Pitot tube icing did not pitch the aircraft up - the pilot did.

Both before and after the AF 447 accident it was found that other incidents of pitot icing and loss of speed indication had happened - and the pilots in those cases followed procedures and nothing bad happened. One summary is here: http://www.aviationtoday.com/regions/usa/More-Pitot-Tube-Incidents-Revealed_72414.html#.VCM0ChZuUUo

The pilot's initial reactions were wrong to start with. He may have been among the small percentage of pilots at the ATP level who would not only react that way but the same flawed thinking also may have allowed him to become a component of a "negative feedback" loop. It doesn't sound like the other two pilots were articulate enough or aggressive enough to sever the negative feedback loop.

 

[Jim Logajan]

They didn't know how to fly with their butt like you guys do, to really "feel" the aircraft. All of that had never been allowed to take root in them by virtue of their training curriculum.

I'm not sure that really describes the senior captain. And the most junior pilot in the right seat who essentially put the jet into its initial stall appears to have earned a glider rating just prior to joining Air France.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Probably true, certainly it was a know issue, were there cases when all 3 tubes iced up? Did any of these occur while the captain was out of the cockpit and the problem was left to be resolve a pilot with minimal recent experience and a inexperience copilot?

This article lists several such incidents though it doesn't give enough detail on all of them to determine if they exactly match your scenario, though I think that requirement is questionable at best:

http://www.aviationtoday.com/regions/usa/More-Pitot-Tube-Incidents-Revealed_72414.html#.VCcHLhZ0YUp

One thing I've wondered about: Since the pilots were clearly looking at the artificial horizon and trusting it enough in order to maintain wings level, I'm not sure I understand why they ignored the depiction of extreme pitch up attitude that I assume would have shown there.