whenrealityhurts,
No lightning. No lightning strikes.
Dark night, in the clouds, flying through ice crystals, moderate+ turbulence, on the periphery of a Cb cell, that's the environment outside.
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An A-320 flying between Paris and Geneva at FL 270 in and out of the clouds in daylight when the crew suddenly spotted a Cb ahead (unanticipated), couldn't quite get around it. The turbulence knocked a generator off-line, and the captain's panels went dark. Stuff happens. But there is no indication of something similar happening to AF 447.
Interesting that, in the Geneva flight, the turbulence was sufficient to send loose material in the cockpit flying about, one item cracking the co-pilot's headset.
The BEA 'lessons learned' report didn't identify the airline or give the incident date, but that crew also was inattentive to its radar.