When a tail assembly fails at 1.93 times Limit Load, then it is 29% over certification strength (which is 1.5 times Limit Load). It is inappropriate to call it "weakened".
That is your opinion, I don't see why you have to rubbish other people's first hand knowledge and experience.
I am NOT a Pilot, and thus am certainly not just defending a fellow Pilot, and I don't really understand what the Pilot did wrong, however if Professional Pilots say he did wrong I accept that.
However, I was there in New York at the time, working on identical Aircraft, and saw first hand the problem with these Aircraft operating in this unique environment, problems that have been corrected since this tragedy.
The Pilot may or may not have done something wrong, I don't know, but I am SURE that there was a problem with the tail of these Aircraft when operating out of NY and down through the Caribbean at that time.
The final straw, or final link in the chain, MAY have been the action of the Pilot, but there is rarely a single cause in any Aircraft Accident.