Just a footnote here.
From this France Soir article:
Airbus, la descente infernale : Tout s
where the quote is part of the timeline:
"2 h 11 min 45 s. Tandis que toutes les vitesses redeviennent invalides et que l’alarme de décrochage s’arrête, le commandant de rejoint les deux pilotes dans le cockpit. « Je ne comprends rien », lâche l’un d’entre eux, affirme sur France Info Michel Polaco, pilote instructeur et ancien patron de la station. L’avion tombe alors à grande vitesse et il n’est pas sûr que dans la nuit, en pleine turbulence et au milieu des alarmes, les pilotes s’en rendent compte tout de suite."
It seems that this information is coming from French journalist Michel Polacco (name spelled with two c's), who seems to actually be a well-respected French journalist with French public radio, France Inter, specializing in defense and aeronautics reporting. (Please any French members correct me, because he seems well known.) He is himself licensed as a pilot and instructor and also flies helicopters. He has a blog called Le Ciel par Michel Polacco, (The Sky by Michel Polacco),
www.polacco.fr which seems well-informed reporting about current aviation news.
I'm sure we'll know more when the BEA report comes out later this month.