PLASTIQUE
I haven't been at the office in the last few days and therefore have not read the FOT you refer to.
Did they mention or refer to the FOT issued on 23 Sept 2003 titled ELEVATOR IN DAMPING POSITION. The reason for issuing the FOT was:
"Two cases of an elevator dropped in full-down position, without ECAM warning, after hydraulic power up, and subsequent to the engine start sequence, have been reported".
It goes on to state that both these cases were identified during the normal flight control checks. The FOT changed the flight control checks as to who responds during the normal flight control check after start, and also added an additional one by the PNF " at a convenient stage, and as close as practicable before takeoff...." to check for the presence of this condition.
The FOT was applicable to all A330-200/300 and all A340 200/300 aircraft.
At the Annual Airbus Safety Conference Oct 2003 held in Barcelona, I recall one of the Airbus test pilots mentioning that this condition would lead to rotation problems if normal elevator control wass not recovered.