Catastrophic break up
I accept that speculation can be dangerous, but there is a great pool of knowledge on this forum, especially from experienced crew.
An overall look at the posts tends towards:
* A catastrophic lightning strike is beyond reality.
* Given the stress testing on A330 (and other) airframes, turbulence would have had to have been unprecedented to bring about a mid-air break up.
* The lack of pilot comms suggest sudden and total loss.
* The apparent size of the debris field tends to indicate a catastrophic break up at considerable altitude.
So do we not have an explosion here? Either by some bizarre confluence of events (aka the TWA Atlantic explosion some years ago), or by malice?
The fact no terror group has claimed responsibility does not rule out mental instability of an individual - either against themselves or against others.
I am very interested - and crew who fly there regularly would be able to tell us - in the level of pre-flight security, including baggage checking, in Rio.