Originally posted by 777fly ...
The photographs of the left wing section show that a large section of the outboard upper wing surface is missing and broken wing spars can be clearly seen. This kind of damage is often seen when a wing is overstressed in a high speed dive recovery. Of course, such damage might have occured at impact, but it would be interesting to know if those missing outboard wing sections are found with the main wreckage, elsewhere, or not at all.
The control surfaces have been smashed off due to the high AoA and high Rate of Descent. Note that attachment spars etc. are all that remains, and the composite components have gone. Early signs that confirmed the BEA's "en ligne de vol" with a high vertical component, were the top of the RADOME was recovered, and an Outer Spoiler showed signs of being punched vertically from its stowed position.
If any hydraulic control system had suffered damage, that would have certainly generated an ECAM and subsequent ACARS message. With the information we have, none of that happened. That doesn't preclude the Outer Spoiler mentioned above from having left in the air, but the visual evidence of its found condition has all the hallmarks of a upward punch by the sea surface, and I suspect the lack of symmetry would have created another warning - before the Cabin Vertical Speed advisory.