I just pray for those souls aboard and their families. As a former flight attendant, these incidents always hit close to my heart.
Sadly, I have a feeling this was deliberate and likely some type of surface to air downing situation due to the location of the flight and the phase of flight. I think considering the security on board, recent incidents and the general awful climate for humanity in the Middle East, obviously some type of attack is at the back of my mind.
I hope and pray that I'm wrong but instant disappearances from radar, flying in/near ME countries and/or South and Southeast Asia have not ended well.
As a half-Frenchie who lived in Paris at one time this is doubly-hard to take in.
[As an aside the US Intelligence community is well-aware that terrorist groups and other nepharious actors in the region have access to both RPGs and other surface to air weaponry that could easily take our an A320, depending on its actual flight level (aka altitude). Sadly, much weaponry was left behind, mostly when abandoned on the battlefield in the ME by coalition forces. They have inventoried weaponry that has been moved out of places we are no longer actively involved but a plethora of perfectly usable weaponry was not included in that inventory when abandoned on the battlefield, after an attack, etc)]
Hoping and praying that I'm wrong. I'm tired of the hate, destruction and hell that some humans insist on inflicting upon others. It's absolutely devastating raising my young boys in this current climate, I genuinely fear for their future.