1. Flying at the 38,000 feet, the A320 suddenly experiences a major loss of cabin air pressure.
2. The flight crew--probably in violation of policy of having at least one crew member wearing an oxygen mask--started to lose consciousness and tried to start an emergency descent.
3. Since they lost consciousness within 15-20 seconds, the plane did nose down but not enough to do a truly rapid emergency descent--it looked like a normal rate of descent.
4. With the crew incapacitated, the plane with its "normal" rate of descent essentially did a prefect controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) crash, crashing into that mountainside in southern France.
I would keep my powder dry, if I were you. There are many wild stories afoot all over the place!!! The latest I noticed was “a failed windscreen”!!! After more then fifty years in aircraft maintenance...what in God’s name is a windscreen. Methinks they are ranting about a cockpit windshield failure, and, although i have heard of windshield shatters and seen many windows crack and blur out......but I have never seen or heard of any window blowing out in the cockpit. Cockpit windows are made with multiple layers of glass product...that are radically designed to withstand cracking, etc, but that will never blow out!!!
I think a broad cover-up is crawling forth!!! The authorities are frightened to death, that this was a terror incident...and it could be!!! I felt confident the black boxes would tell all...but....that route seems to fading quickly...because of severe damage to both black boxes!!! Eight minutes is a rather long time for a flight crew not being able to get one word out about their flight condition and a very long time for some aware passengers not to cell phone loved ones!!!
I believe we will never really know what happened on that aircraft....just as is the situation with many other rcent aircraft incidents & accidents. Obama must have put the screwas to the Spanish, French and Germans to shut their mouths....while he makes love to Iran. Who knows???