Xlsky, I absolutely agree that all too often pilot error is blamed unfairly. I’d put AF447 in the same category.
Paco and SilsoeSid, I agree; TR failure is (apart from double engine fire) the only scenario in which I can see a pilot would need to shut down both engines.
In photographs of the scene, the fenestron appears to have separated from the boom at the ring frame on impact.
Hypothetically, if a progressive failure at that point had occurred in flight, could it bend the fenestron drive shaft enough to slow the main rotor below the point of no return?
I’m not suggesting this is what actually happened, I’m just trying to make a list of possible failures that could have caused this tragic accident.