NOVA did a program on this. They do a detailed look at this type of failure. They also had trained pilots demonstrate how to fly that specific plane without air

NOVA did a program on this. They do a detailed look at this type of failure. They also had trained pilots demonstrate how to fly that specific plane without airspeed indication. It wasn't difficult to do. There are specific throttle and angle settings you can use to maintain stable flight. The program is available on netflix: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70148706 http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70148706 Edit: This may not be the best place to add this but I don't feel like replying to several comments. If I recall correctly, the pitot tubes on 447 were defective models known to be prone to icing. They met existing safety standards but they had still caused a number of failures other aircraft of the same model before this crash happened. The aircraft had been due for pitot replacement but Air France hadn't gotten around to it yet. The aircraft had flown directly into a thunderstorm system capable of making super cooled water which could easily overwhelm the defective pitots.