ELAC,
Correct me if I misunderstand you, but it seems to me that you're implying the AF crew did deviate from track? Doesn't the evidence (comms from the crew, ACARS transmissions, location of wreckage and debris) indicate that AF447 stayed on track and flew into, or found itself in, a major storm cell?
Rockhound
@Rockhound
I'm implying that we don't really know what path they took after their report at INTOL. To my knowledge the ACARS transmissions don't include location and the position of debris found in the ocean means very little with respect to the specific track flown, particularly after days of drift.
Regarding communications, HF radio in oceanic airspace is not like you experience with VHF over land. At times atmospheric conditions can make HF communication impossible and it varies from place to place. Just because comms were good at the last position report doesn't mean they'll work 20 minutes later. If deviating without a clearance oceanic procedures would have required a broadcast on 121.5/123.45 but there is no record of anyone having heard one. Again, that doesn't mean that a broadcast wasn't made (severe electrical storms can interfere with VHF reception). So, that a request to deviate wasn't received does not prove that a request wasn't transmitted or that a deviation from track didn't occur.
Until those facts are known it's not really possible to conclude whether they attempted to deviate, and if so by how much, or whether they flew directly through the MCS shown in the satellite image or not.
ELAC