2 weeks ago the 2 French judges in charge of the French judicial investigation ( as 54 French nationals were on board) gave a briefing to the families.
One of them talked to "Le Figaro" newspaper ;
Brief extracts of the article :
1- Undetected Icing conditions. Aircraft stalled due icing of the engines sensors which reduced the thrust , while AP tried to kept a/c level . Both not detected by crew. ( This is also on the BEA preliminary report)
2- when a/c stalled , PF pulled control column and kept it pulled , aggravating the stall.
3- Both pilots were not full time employed as pilots but were performing other jobs 6 months a year.
4-The Simulator used by the company ( Swiftair) to train and renew Qualifications was not the exact type of the aircraft flown.
5. Both pilots had never flown/worked in Africa before this mission, their only experience was the Algiers - Ouagadougou route. They were doing this ( night) route everyday since one month., They did not return to Spain since the beginning of their assignment. Fatigue is mentioned.
6 . On this flight this day, there was nobody available in Ouagadougou to load the luggage, so both pilots helped load the luggage on board, aggravating the fatigue.
7: Load and balance sheets were incorrect.
8:The weather briefing sheet they received prior take off was “ more than 2,5 hours old “
Again this is what the article reported . So to be taken as such.
TIA