Pilot Error

The CBC reports on the findings from the data and voice recorders recovered from Air France Flight 447: Pilot errors blamed in Air France crash

The crew piloting a doomed Air France jet over the Atlantic did not appear to know that the plane was in a stall, despite repeated warning signals, and never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before the jet plunged into the sea, according to new findings released Friday.
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The passengers were never told what was happening as Flight 447 went into an aerodynamic stall and then dived for 3½ minutes into the sea, according to a summary of the latest findings released Friday by the BEA — France’s civil aviation safety authority.

The pilots themselves may not have been aware they were in the stall even as it was dooming the flight, the summary says.
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A stall warning sounded numerous times, and once for a full 54 seconds, but the crew made no reference to it in cockpit exchanges before the jet crashed, according to the BEA.
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The BEA says it’s unclear why the co-pilot at the controls, flying manually in what became the final minutes of the flight, maintained a nose-up input — contrary to the normal procedure to come out of an aerodynamic stall. Normally, the nose should be pointed slightly downward to regain lift in such a stall, often caused because the plane is traveling too slowly.

Apparently the two co-pilots at the controls had minimal training in flying that aircraft manually, and no training in high altitude stalls. There is no indication as to why the pilot did not take the controls when he returned to the cockpit.