Hitting the pilot with a mode change like that in the middle of an emergency was part of what caused the disaster. That's true, but mostly because the guy flyi

Hitting the pilot with a mode change like that in the middle of an emergency was part of what caused the disaster. That's true, but mostly because the guy flying AF447 wasn't a "pilot", he didn't understand how to properly fly the aircraft. Like most Airbus pilots, he was a "system manager" and spent thousands of flight hours watching while the aircraft itself did most of the work. When the automation failed, he simply didn't know what to do to fly the plane by hand. From what I've read (and I'm not a pilot either), the proper response to unreliable or conflicting airspeed data for the A330, when you're at high altitude (not trying to land or take off or anything like that) is simple. It's something like: 85% power, wings level, 5 degrees nose up pitch It's not a stretch to ask a pilot to remember something simple like that. Even when stressed. Of course, it is a stretch to ask airlines to either hire competent pilots, or at the least to periodically put pilots into stressful situations like that in the simulator. They won't do it because simulator time is too expensive. It's more cost effective for Air Chance to lose an occasional plane than to make sure they have competent and trained people in the cockpit.