Hey MFS – Thanks for keeping on keeping on. I gave up. Your voice and that of a few others, has been one of reason, professionalism, and expertise. I very much appreciate not only your comments, but the manner in which you provide them.
I don’t believe anyone here has ever “jumped on the bandwagon to blame the dead pilot.” The unfortunate fact is that the PF was the pilot flying, and, as such, has to bear at least some of the burden. Was there inadequate information available on the airplane? Probably. Inadequate regulations? Maybe. There certainly was inadequate understanding of what the regulations said. Inadequate training? An interesting question, given what was known, what was thought to be known, and what was not considered about the rules, and considering how those rules play out in an airplane with the kinds of controller deflection amounts and forces yielding the kinds of control surface deflections achieved on the accident airplane. But no matter what the proper answers are for these concerns, I have yet to understand why anyone would think that maximum control deflection, and repeated reversals, in all three axes, at the same time, was anything close to expected professional aviation behavior - below, at, or above design maneuvering speed.