lomapaseo:
You can't push a theory unless you also consider the cons against the theory.
Sure, but 99.99% of this thread is only about the cons against this theory. The basic cons are just that we don't know what happened for sure and it will be really difficult to prove anything without finding the FDR/CVR. But we also need to use the few facts we already have and be able to fill the huge gaps in between.
Rananim basically used what we know for sure: ice was there and certainly in enough quantity to make something ugly to happen to engine like in certain cases already seriously studied because it could harm any one of the most modern engines (there is plenty of papers about severe icing, at previously unknown levels, during the last four years as it appears to be an increasing threat for high flights above tropical weather - read what NW pilots said about the conditions they met in Japan).
But just to keep the discussion alive, give a thought to what happens to the flight after the engines flame out and ACARS goes off line with nary a clue that the individual electrical generators preceeded it.
ACARS should not report flameout because it takes some time to trigger an ACARS and no time to switch to EMER ELEC once engine flameout. Then Satcom will go off-line no matter if any ACARS is on the pipe.
What happens then? with an unreliable airspeed, altitude, direct law, etc. The pilots will be busy for quite some time in order to sort things out. They'll need to maintain 300 kts for a refight, one engine at a time. At this speed, they would be at sea level in less than 15 mn. Considering they'll have no reliable airspeed until much lower, they could have missed the conditions and ended too low. Then hit the water (it's night and certainly under heavy rain) in an attempt to refight an engine. For example, hitting hard with the tailcone when making a ressource, killing horizontal energy, then pancacked. Another possibility will be a stall at low altitude after such an attempt, successfull or not.
The other point which make me think this kind of scenario a serious possibility (flameout) is that I'm pretty sure they turned back: if not, it is just not possible to reconciliate the actual drift of the wreckage with any fast upset at altitude.
S~
Olivier