Maisk Rotum
if the autopilot starts taking you down-uncommanded-shouldn't you disconnect and fly manually. If you were asleep for the first 200 foot excursion you should have been focused by then to disconnect for the next 650' excursion! And even more focussed after that for the next 400' excursion. Believe it or not you can disconnect the autopilot in cruise on a 'bus.
That's a pretty smart comment from a professional pilot... The crew didn't have control of the aeroplane. It was doing it's own thing. The captain told me he was sh!t scared about what was going on. This was not a case of a simple autopilot disconnect and wandering off altitude while both pilots were engrossed in the paper. Don't you realise the first bunt was so violent 50 people got slammed against the ceiling? Do you reckon a pilot would have done that?
If you'd bothered to read the media release, you would have read that the aircraft climbed, then went back to level flight at the assigned level for one minute before doing the first bunt.