Rananim
Were 2 FO's at the controls and if so why did Capt plan his rest that way(airmanship)
Not sure why you're dragging the AF accident into a "low hours" thread but FWIW one of the P2's had 3000 hours plus, the other 6000 plus.
If you really do want to go onto the subject of who takes crew rest and when , I'd certainly bear the route forecast in mind when timing breaks but unless there was a forecast of extremely exceptional conditions I'd certainly expect the co-pilots I fly with ( all 1000 hours ++) to be capable of transiting the ITCZ without difficulty.