It appears that AF447 flew into an intense tropical storm.
The aircraft was subjected to extreme attitude changes, dense rain, and electrical interference. Any one of those effects could have interrupted a radio signal carrying the vital data to a satellite. In the presence of all three together it would have been very lucky to get through.
Last edited by Sallyann1234; 23rd February 2010 at 11:11.
Reason: changed 'turbulence' to 'attitude changes'