Let's assume the pilots were good...let's assume the aircraft was decent....looking at the cockpit of your typical google search Airbus panel, I am struck with this idea.
Your in a very strong tropical thunderstorm. Lightning hits the cockpit, avionics bay, multiple times. Tubes go dead, avionics take a pretty hard hit.
I get the impression that pilots on a dark and rainy night, getting 10k up and down drafts in a cell, have no engine, A/S, or AI reference from non tube instruments.
So your trying to maintain attitude control in what is probably a dark cockpit under IMC conditions and your getting slammed.
If there is an iron gyro back up AI, etc...ok disregard, but I couldn't find one in the pics that I saw.