PEI, thanks, well said.
The question you refer to that I learned to ask about mishaps "were they set up to fail?" describes a generic way to look at the human to system to machine interface, and was not directed at the crew of AF 447 personally. What is behind that question is overcoming the throwaway of "OH, it was pilot error" in one mishap or another, and to lead to identifying the influences of systems, conditions, training, and other inputs (like from ATC or unergonomic cockpit set ups) that contribute to things going wrong.
Considering the numerous extended threads on this topic, some common themes keep cropping up: there are some arguments to be made that the crew was set up for a surprise, and worse.
If you look at it from the perspective of Team Air France, the flight failed to do as intended: deliver plane and pax to Paris. Would a more useful form of that question be: "where were the seeds of mission failure sown?"
I suggest that's the driving question behind BEA's difficult task.