The killer was that the "all flying" tailplane was servo tab controlled ( a bit like the Britannia's ailerons) i.e. the pilot had no direct link to the flying surface which basically just flew in the breeze.
I recently read an accident report to a similar high tail type where the elevator used servo-tabs. I am unsure what type but fancy it may have been a DC9 or similar design. When the crew checked the flight controls before takeoff they all seemed to work normally. Except the only problem was there was no correlation between control wheel operation and elevator. Being servo-tab operated the elevator itself doesn't move if the aircraft is on the ground.
When the pilot pulled back to rotate nothing happened and the aircraft stayed on the deck. I forget the result but I think an abort was made too late to prevent the accident.
The cause of the problem started with high winds when the aircraft was parked overnight. The winds affected one elevator and forced it against its stops (?) and caused damage such that it wasn't connected anymore and merely floated free. It was not possible to see the problem during the preflight walk-around inspection. The other elevator was not affected but on rotation it didn't have enough lifting force to lift the nosewheel on its own. All the while the damaged elevator simply floated free during the takeoff roll. .