A few thoughts:
1) Could the poor weather conditions in the area be related to the lack of communication from the aircraft? How sensitive are aircraft communication systems to severe weather related interference, taking the location specific communication characteristics into consideration as well.
2) In the case of an aircraft entering severe and sudden / unexpected weather conditions, requiring full on and dedicated "lets keep this plane in the air" action, where does this place the action to report back to AF, both in terms of operating hierarchy as well as human nature?
3) Do we have any more information about the most recent maintenance / repairs carried out on the aircraft? Under this point, I am considering how repair work may have failed when exposed to severe turbulence.
Thanks.
Patrick (non pilot / aviation industry)