While in it’s descent and not radioing, a major clue is that it continued on it’s COURSE:
It suggests the pilots were somehow incapacitated or busy with some other task:
LIKE FIGHTING OFF AN ATTACKER(s).
Cockpit take-over..?
The news reporters this morning made the point this was a remote location with few roads and hard to get to the survivors if there were any.
But my sense of it is - anyone in a plane crash is either killed or walks away....with few injured in between.
But it might be that the ones killed get more news coverage.
Does anyone know for certain?
I think its a good bet that if the pilots were fighting anyone off, some passengers were helping them out.