On 10 Mar. I said:
This is really a question: How many hinge brackets are there holding the A310 rudder? The photos I'm seeing of the Air Transat fin suggest that there should be another bracket attached near the top of the fin/rudder. Did this top bracket get carried away when the rudder departed? If so, it could have been loose on the fin to begin with, and that looseless permitted flutter to develop, which precipitated the loss of rudder.
and now:
The rudder is attached to the vertical fin through seven A-frame hinges, numbered one to seven, starting from the bottom... Rudder hinge number seven was torn off from the fin spar.
My father maintained his flying skills for over seventy years, and was the most thorough preflight inspection guy I ever knew. He must have taught me a thing or two.