Originally Posted by
tigerfish
Why all this pointless armchair speculation/discussion? TF
Because this forum is for armchair speculation/discussion. Whether or not it's all pointless is a matter of opinion...
As for, "I told you so"...here's my theory. Somehow the aircraft was released from the factory in 2016 with an 'incorrect installation of the TR servo-actuator'. In practice, probably meaning that the cotter pin and lock-wire were never fitted, allowing the nut to work its way loose over time until the final (as it turned out) pedal input allowed it to fall off, resulting in complete loss of tail rotor control.
This is entirely pointless (but, I believe, harmless) speculation from my armchair based, almost entirely, on the preceding 42 pages of discussion.