Originally Posted by volume
For me this looks like a fully inverted nose down impact. Fuselage completely disintegrates, wings (being the most heavy part) slide forward and come to rest at end of debris field (inverted in direction of flight). Due to fuselage desintegration, the tail section flips over 180° and lands VTP up agains flight direction destroying most of the lower forward part but keeping the HTP attached.
Would not be the first time that an airliner impacted inverted nose down after LOC... but for an Aircraft with that many protections ???
You won't invert an Airbus in Normal Law... As I said before, CFIT pure and simple.. Besides - all this speculation that the wings are upside down is just that.. When I look at the latest photos posted the far wing appears to have quite a camber on the top surface, therefore it would 'appear' to me that the wings are in fact the right way up and facing forwards in the direction they were going when they hit the ground trying to find the runway!!
I'm not sure who made the comment about the crew 'not being aware they were below MDA'
Well, unless there was a problem with the rad alts you are always aware of where you are in relation to MDA and the ground with the 2500,1000,100 above,MINIMUM,100,50,40,30,20,10 countdown etc - believe me, you can't miss these callouts on the 'Bus!!