Forgive my asking but what on earth was the Captain doing in the bunk knowing from the start they were going to cross a nasty area?
Perhaps following Air France SOP? (caveat: that is a guess) This might come up in any civil trial if the families of the dead have to take their damages case to court.
Some long haul pilots have offered up in the Tech Log discussions that it is common practice, to ensure Catpain is fresh for approach and landing after a long haul flight, that he "rest" during parts of the cruise portion of flight.
How do you know he was "in the bunk" - he might have nipped back for a personal comfort break?
Were the two First Officers not fully qualified?
Good point.
This is not going to fly in court. Multiple examples in the merchant navy starting with the Exon Valdez where the captain was sobering up in his cabin and some other ship in Greece concluded to carelessness.
I don't see the situations as correlated. The minimum manning on merchant ships isn't quite as robust as three qualified pilots on a transatlantic flight.
I'll be damned if I am going to go to sleep knowing what lies ahead.
Therein lies the discretion of the captain on any flight, or ship. I suppose you can argue that time of year, ITCZ, and the weather forecast before the flight took off would necessitate the Captain providing the other two "if such and such conditions looms, call me to the flight deck immediately."