Over 30 pages on this thread so far have dealt mainly with technical issues and yet there appears to be very little written on what might turn out to be the real cause of this tragedy..... "Airmanship".
Long story short, AF447 was clearly put in harms way. To place an airliner in a tropical line of 55,000 ft+ cells is beyond comprehension. I would be interested in hearing the opinions of other heavy transport operators with experience in ITCZ crossings.
1) Did the tight fuel situation for this particular route play any part in avoiding what appears to have been a required 150+ mile detour that night?
2) What line oriented experience regarding the effective use of wx radar did these pilots receive? Simulators and manufacturer's manuals can't tell you everything...hands on experience is required.
3) How much hands on / off autopilot time did these pilots have and what high altitude stall recovery training had they received?
The Satellite wx overlay place this flight in the middle of a 55,000 ft CB encountering severe turbulence at the time of loss of airspeed information....a daunting situation for even the most seasoned airman.