Chris Scott:
Forgive me, but I can't help feeling as if we're being asked to take part in some kind of consumer survey by an organisation that has only a passing interest in the subject, that has insufficient time/inclination/ability to phrase all its questions with intelligible syntax, demands yes/no answers, and which may have an agenda it is unwilling to reveal.
Am I being uncharitable?
I would say so.
I've actually followed all these threads for a long time - I have not added to them as I have nothing to input - but as the threads expand, it becomes difficult to see any comments that are either not theorising, and are 'simple' to understand.
I shall try and put into words how the events appear to me (with no technical knowledge). I have no interest other than A: finding the various theories difficult to comprehend and B: being an occasional air traveler.
So: in terms I understand, you need lift and thrust to move an aircraft through the air. If either of these factors change or are lost then the aircraft will not fly correctly.
From reading and rereading the events seem to point to an incident which lasted a short period of time - indicating that the aircraft descended rapidly.
The ONLY relevance to the type (Airbus) that I can possibly see in terms of the accident is IF the computer shut down or operated in some way as to either stop or inhibit control inputs being corectly applied, or the computer sent the aircraft into a dive.
Otherwise, disregarding the weather, the only other possibilities are that the aircraft lost thrust - how? or it lost lift - how? - or - it lost one or a combination and did not descend as rapidly as may be believed, and ditched.
If the aircraft lost thrust it will descend rapidly even if full control is available elsewhere. If it breaks up midflight then it will plummet. If control is lost then it has to be exceptionally severe if thrust and minor controls cannot restore any form of controlled flight - so ultimately, the questions have to be - short of the aircraft being pitched down deliberately - if an aircraft stalls, and has diminished controls, is it really not possible to get some measure of control back in 30 odd thousand feet? Can weather totally disable an aircraft?
It seems otherwise, that it could in theory be anything from engine to system failure, or even fuel starvation. There are no posts which say, for instance 'if the computer failed then all control would be lost' (that I can find) - which may give a clue. All we know is it fell or flew from the sky.