I stand corrected on UAL, I recall that the disintegrating Fan severed hydraulics in the Fin, and Directional control was lost due to unpowered Rudder. This is somewhat counter to my belief that the VS is critical, the Rudder, not so. As JAL shows, I think they remained relatively in control, but meandered in heading until they impacted the mountain. My point is that a fairly level arrival is possible w/o the Fin. Again, we don't know that 447's pilots were not alert and had no management of Pitch. The fact that 447 was laterally rotating supports the loss of the Vertical Stabilizer, anent JD-EE's maple leaf (acer helix). This is not to say that 447 lost her fin at altitude, she may have lost it much lower, its loss perhaps initiating 447's lateral rotation.
587 does not apply here, imo.