Originally Posted by
.Scott
So according to this report (based on FlightRadar24 data), there was a sudden upward acceleration before the plunge. This supports some of the speculation that there was an abrupt control maneuver over Va that broke the aircraft.
So perhaps a sluggish elevator with a lot of play was the problem all along - and not a sluggish altimeter.
Does the aircraft provide vertical speed to FR24, or is the above data just derived from altitude vs time? I suspect the latter might explain the spikes.
The data posted earlier shows ground speed ACCELERATING towards the very end. That, and the time vs altitude data suggest a 25 degree descent angle. The graphs are very misleading in this respect.
Correction to my earlier post, and agree with other comments: vertical g was -0.25 on the first upset followed by +0.5 in the pull up.