For what it's worth (not much):
Today, a TP pilot that was flying a paralell route (in his words about 80nm west from the AF's route) at basically the same time and in a similar acft (not said in the interview, but it would be a TP's A330 or A340) was interviewed in a portuguese TV channel (TVI).
For those who understand portuguese, the vid of the interview can be watched
here.
Basically he said that:
- He doesn't believe a plane can be brought down only by turbulence. Although not impossible but highly unprobable.
- He doesn't believe in a single factor for the accident
- He stated that aircrafts are prepared for lightening strikes.
- He found turbulence on his flight path but nothing "unusual" for that particular route. He did had to re-route to avoid, but nothing unusual (10/15nm).
- He didn't hear any distress call from the AF's crew
- He acknowledge that sometimes they experience difficulties with radio (HF) transmissions and "use" other aircrafts to relay the information
- He DID hear some requests from the ATC to other acft in the 'area' to try to reach AF447 on different frequencies, including another TP flight that departed from Natal
He spent a good part of the interview "evading" the (usual at that TV station) sensacionalism-inducing questions, and stick to the (IMHO correct) posture of "noone knows nothing for sure at the moment and I'm not going to speculate, but it was a strange and fast happening".
./J
(an idiotic anorak)