Flying Too Slowly

When I first heard about airspeeds, I believed the investigators and Airbus personnel were discussing too high an airspeed for penetrating bad weather. Above the Design Maneuvering Speed, but stalling? I heard about a phenomenon called a 'high speed' stall. This involved Learjets or some similar corporate jet at high altitudes. Anyone know about this?

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk Parts of Air France jet found as investigators suggest it was flying too slowly and stalled Airbus is now to issue new advice to all airlines using A330s about optimal speeds during stormy weather after investigators suggested the plane may have stalled mid-air. A high-altitude stall at 35,000ft would explain why the aircraft apparently broke up during appalling weather conditions. Airbus declined to comment but retired pilot Jean Serrat said: ‘If accident investigators are making a recommendation so early, it is because they know very well what happened. The first thing you do when you fly into turbulence is to reduce speed to counter its effects. If you reduce speed too much you stall.’ At 11pm on Sunday, the Airbus 330 was flying through black thunderstorms towering up 50,000 feet above sea-level, as updraft winds battered it at up to 100mph. 14 minutes later, with its systems failing, the plane was breaking apart and dove into the Atlantic ocean with 228 people onboard.