Before I make my unsolicited comments please keep in mind that the only aircraft I've ever "flown", or piloted, are the type which one uses a radio transmitter with i.e., I know nothing about that which goes on in the cockpit.
After reading this thread since day 1 I've come to the conclusion that many of the comments here, taken together, are a damning indictment of the cockpit crew of this ill-fated flight. After poring over the data, reading the transcripts as provided by BEA, and reading all of the pertinent BEA-provided reports I suppose some of this damning indictment is appropriate.
But I'd like to take this one step further. Isn't the apparent lack of training, as far as the PF is concerned, the lack of CRM, the lack of communication between the flight crew members a further indictment of our modern world? Is not this one specific flight crew a microcosm of our greater world? Is not the underlying reason for the PF's apparent lack of real training yet further proof that "the bottom line" is really the precursor for all that comes after?
I'm involved in the I.T. field and have been for well over 25 years.
I fondly remember "the old days" when the latest innovation in technology was a "big thing". Nowadays I am astounded, shocked and dismayed at that which is coming out of our schools these days. It seems to me the "younger generation" really doesn't have a clue nor do they seem to want one. Apathy, lack of motivation to learn, inattentiveness, self-centeredness etc. These dubious traits seem ingrained in so many these days. Is not what happened with AF447, unfortunately, not another "small" example of all of the above?