I don't understand why a thunderstorm would have affected this plane. Wouldn't it have been cruising by that time at an altitude immune to weather? Perhaps this was discussed in another thread; I haven't been following the discussions too closely.
"The Airbus SAS A330-200, with 228 on board, appears to have flown into or near a large cluster of thunderstorms northeast of Fernando de Noronha, located off Brazil’s coast, according to AccuWeather.com.
Updrafts may have reached 100 mph, and the storms, stretching for over 400 miles (644 kilometers), towered as high as 50,000 feet, according to the weather service." [2]
Airbus A330 Service Ceiling: 39,370 ft (12,000 m) [3]
[1] http://www.srh.noaa.gov/shv/Past_Questions_FOUR.htm
[2] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aFSn...
* Strong updrafts of wind * Heavy moisture content which was sucked up from the ocean and which turned to ice and hail
Read about the coffin corner by the same author http://trueslant.com/milesobrien/2009/06/08/the-coffin-corne...
What I don't understand is, if they lose altitude because of being at the edge of the corner, wouldn't the pilots be able to steady the aircraft at a lower altitude?
The problem comes about if you enter into any unusual attitudes, which is certainly possible in severe turbulence. The most important part would be a safe recovery to straight and level flight. An unusual attitude can put you in a situation where you overspeed the aircraft (e.g. nosedive). Above the maneuvering speed of the aircraft, you must be very careful to regain control without overstressing the airframe.[1] If your speed sensor(s) are giving you or the autopilot faulty readings, it would be very difficult to know the safest way to regain control of the aircraft after being put into an unusual attitude due to turbulence.
[1] American Airlines Flight 587 crash (NY, 2001) taught us that even below the manuevering speed of the aircraft, the airframe can be overstressed due to dynamic loads from pilot control inputs.