Early days yet, but
 

Descent profile, lack of any distress call, age of aircraft, recency of servicing - sorry to speculate but looks to me like a major de-pressurisation event, followed by a planned rapid descent during the course of which the crew unexpectedly lost oxygen and became hypoxic, rendering them unable to pull out of the descent. :(

Seriously Philip, come on. Do you have to?

"Sadly two Australians are reported to have been on board."


Sadly there were 150 people on board:mad:

Latest news is speculating:

* de-pressurisation event (as mentioned previously)
* clogged pitot tubes causing uncontrolled descent ( http://avherald.com/h?article=47d74074)

The AoA Vanes are not pitot tubes. They are, of course, the AoA vanes. There was an Airbus OEB which came out a couple of months ago in regards to this problem, with required actions (memory items) in the event that it should occur. It places the aircraft into alternate law and enables the pilots to recover control of the aircraft.

Mick

The CVR was damaged in the crash, first images released by BEA France. The flight data recorder has not been located at this time.

Wow!
 

Given the forces these devices are built to resist (typically 3,400 Gs and 5,000 psi), those photos are a graphic illustration of the forces unleashed on impact. And the scratches suggest quite a bit of post-impact bouncing and scraping too. :eek:

this is the 3rd crash in recent times where something has gone wrong after aircraft reaches cruise level , normally the time co-pilot or pilot use the toilet and leave the cockpit , sounds to me like pilot or someone at the controls may have deliberately crashed plane , as may be the case for MH370 as was case for SilkAir Flight 185 , latest reports suggest a loud noise similar to someone trying to open cockpit door was heard on flight recorder , maybe pilot and co pilots need to carry keys to cockpit door , as well as having as regular mental health check ups !

The outer frame of the Flight Data Recorder has been found, but not the recorder itself.

Un-official - CDR suggests one pilot left the cockpit before the un-expected descent and was unable to get back in. There is the sound of gentle knocking on the cockpit door , then heavy knocking, but never any answer.

This is not directed to you but I personally think it would be wise not to speculate too much about the accident (there's a thing called Pprune) if people want too. People have lost loved ones (passengers and crew members) and speculating on what happened won't help those who are grieving from this accident.

I think we should wait until official media releases/reports come out so we can understand what really happened.