One commendable early notification was along the lines:
" We do not know yet what has happened to AF447 but it may be connected to Pitots and / airspeed..."
(Was this from AF, AB or BEA ? It doesn't matter.)
This would give any pilot a chance to reread the UAS Drill for his aircraft. Do people still do " Touch Drills " ( Touch - but don't move anything...) ?