khashoggi - A very good point and quite correct. Yes, the irregular surface of the ocean did indeed play a large part in how the airframe and its contents were damaged and to what level.
Given the relative wave frequency vs velocity of impact and aircraft parameters, it is very unlikely that there was a significant different in wave height along the surfaces of the aircraft.
Impact surface of a wave would be virtually the same given the vertical vs horizontal velocity of the airframe, thus the relative weight/surface area of the components would cause the differences...