Hi,
Thunder and lightning comments are IMHO of less merit. The primary threat here is convection (up/down draft, shearing resulting in excessive strain to the airframe and disruption to flight path/attitude) and precipitation (causing icing on the airframe and affecting thrust). Lightning can occur many miles away from the convective storm and can be independent event. Lightning strike on a/c is a very rare and generally benign event.
Ironically .. the thunderstorm thingy was the first words tell by Gourgeon (AF CO) at first press meeting as explainations after AF447 crash.
This was immediately dismissed by some experts as a cause of the crash...
Certainly some had an agenda .. but who ?
