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A flight expert on Fox just mentioned “angle of attack” sensors, which have failed before because they freeze up, citing an accident over the Mediterrean in 2008. It is a known problem and directives have been issued.

Partially true, that is actually conflating two separate issues. Air France 447 over the South Atlantic had frozen pitot probes, and the crew responded exactly opposite to what they should have done.

A recent Lufthansa had a Air Data Computer failure, which initiated an uncommanded 2,000 foot descent. The crew responded correctly and regained control.

This is a hot topic for Airbus pilots in the past few months. We have very specific and rapid procedures to handle both issues. None of which would prevent the crew from communicating for 10 minutes. Some emergency procedures are very involved and could preclude communication, but these are like that.

In the case of the first issue, there are no direct actions - just verification of attitude, and then a checklist. The second issue takes 2 seconds, pushing 2 buttons, and regains 100% control. That one is a memory-type response for all Airbus pilots world wide.

What is also missing is the descent into terrain. It simply cannot happen in an Airbus if the pilots are conscious. Similar to collision avoidance in modern autos, it sends off alerts well before hitting terrain. It measures rate of closure and alerts with sufficient time to completely avoid terrain, with maximum performance.

Tz, thank so much for your info. Funny thing you would mention the avoidance collision alert in cars. My husband and I are just settling a lemon law case with GM over our GMC Denali Terrain. This car is designed to have visual and audio alerts only of a potential crash which is fine. But, our car also does this crazy false alert thing, randomly out of nowhere, along with the loud audio warnings we get a sudden drag on the brakes. So you can be driving along and suddenly, ou of nowhere, the warnings go off and the brakes grab, which creates a sudden adrenaline rush and an “oh crap I’m going to wreck” moment. We instantly slam on our brakes, thinking emergency, once a car behind almost slammed into me. After multiple service appointments, GM has tried to say we are basically crazy, never had an issue Blah, blah, blah, only to find out many people have had problems. It is a false alert problem and the brake thing, which the car is not designed to do, is a computer glitch where it pre-charges the brakes in the event of am potential need to stop.