Loss of AP is one thing, but what of loss of electrics altogether? I've heard A320 pilots refer to it as "Sparky" because if electrics are lost, it becomes a lawn dart. I'm interested to know, how might the A330 compare in this occurrence?
If all electrics are lost the pilot still has pitch trim for pitch control, and the rudder for lateral-directional control. The pitch trim wheel in the cockpit is connected by cables to the control of the hydraulically powered pitch trim actuator. The rudder system is conventional hydro-mechanical control, with cables going from the cockpit to the rudder actuators.
Airbus did an approach and landing using pitch trim and rudder control only on an A320 during flight testing as a company test, in very good weather conditions (this is mentioned in
"Cowboys d'Airbus", Bernard Ziegler). But they are very careful not to claim that it would be practical to count on this being possible in service, in real world conditions.
But, even though pitch trim and rudder do provide very limited control without any electrical power, it could get ugly pretty quickly if you combined this with the turbulence from a CB.
Note: none of the above is intended as speculation about what occurred on this flight. It was simply intended to answer the question posed earlier.