Salute!
I tend to agree with Bear. The opinions of Svarin and Jct are ones I also agree with.
I only post here as I was flying FBW systems before most, if not all folks here. Try 1979.
We can talk about all the ACARS transmissions and speculate on ocean currents and such, but the cause of the crash is clear to this old pilot - loss of control.
Richard Bach placed it like that - loss of control due to factors beyond human control, or big pieces coming off the plane or control linkages freezing/breaking. etc.
We can sort out the ACARS messages later, once the recorders are recovered, particularly the CVR. I want to know/understand what in the hell did the crew do? What did they see/feel?
The chance that pitot-static air data became unreliable is high. And as SV and JC pointed out, it's possible to have the phenomena occur well before entering turbulence. Hell, the X-31 had a problem in the clear, blue skies over California.
I shall be the last pilot here to blame the crew. If they encountered conflicting indications that things were going south and could not react in time, then the rest is history. Loss of control.
I do not subscribe to the theories that loss of control surfaces or other "parts" were the cause of the crash. Parts may have come off well before impact, but that was just part of the sequence. What in the hell happened at the beginning? Go see the Columbia loss data. Things were happening well before the thing came apart. The crew was unaware, and if they knew then they prolly couldn't do anything except pull up slowly and then bail when at a lower mach/altitude. They didn't know, but last transmission was the beggining of a question by the Commander that was cut off.
Of particular interest to me is the sequence of "reversion" of the flight control system when something bad happens. The Airbus does not have the same sequence of reversion modes that the F-16, B-2, F-22 and Shuttle have. Those planes focus upon crew control for a vastly different mission than commercial airliners, and have few modes that use nav data and approach/takeoff/go-around/cruise to "help".