Hi Rockhound,
What possible significance is the temperature in the cockpit?
It's a clue that you've just entered a region of much warmer air suddenly.
If the outside air temperature has risen faster than the hot air trim valves can respond, then you may have just entered the warm rising air of a big CB.
Best recheck the OAT for possible engine anti icing.
The two copilots were maxed out when the Captain returned to the flight deck. I don't understand why he didn't ask for the Altitude Alert deviation warning ("C chord") to be silenced so he could think straight. It was constantly filling in all the gaps between the other aural warnings until impact.