[r9etb]

From this analysis: Breakup of a plane at higher altitudes in a thunderstorm is not unprecedented; Northwest Flight 705 in 1963 and more recently Pulkovo Aviation Flight 612 in 2006 are clear examples.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Flight 587 (Airbus 300) which went down in Queens in 2001 hit wake turbulence from a previous plane and lost it’s vertical stabilizer due to overly aggressive rudder correction by the pilot. The engines then separated prior to crash.

Could be that the control inputs needed in the turbulence they encountered aggravated the problems.

[Moose4]

I thought Pulkovo 612 was pilot error; they went over the service ceiling for the Tu-154 at that weight, got slow, stalled it and entered a flat spin they couldn’t get out of. They were, however, being beaten around by a severe thunderstorm at the time and trying to get over or out of it.

}:-)4

[omega4179]

Well admittedly updrafts do occur at 35k

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tstorm-mature-stage.jpg