AF is an amazing service but this accident highlights one of its biggest limitations.
There is no question that the guys and girls running the show along with the volunteers have everyones best interests and safety as the highest priority. Policies encouraging pilots to cancel flights when they are not comfortable with conditions or the operation are very solid.
However, the human factor in all this is the individual pilot would still feel an obligation to push the boundaries (his/her own limitations) to not disappoint the 'customer'.
What we essentially have is a commercial pressure (though self imposed) on pilots who probably only fly once a week or less, in most cases favourably VMC conditions. Many AF pilots would be instrument rated, however the weekend flyers would still not push their instrument flying skills to the limit on a regular basis and would likely only fly IFR recreationally in conditions that are marginally worse than what one could do under VFR.
Many aircraft used like the one in question would also be somewhat poorly equipped for inadvertent (or intentional) entry into IMC. You could argue that if you are instrument rated, you should be able to safely operate any IFR certified aircraft in IMC. However, I question whether this accident would have occured if the same flight was done in a G1000 (or similar) equipped aircraft.