grumpyoldgeek - "The aircraft in question was flying below Va, which by definition allows lock-to-lock control throws without breaking the aircraft. After the accident Airbus qualified that to mean one excursion to lock and then back, not multiple cycles."
I think the problem is line pilots thought Va for light a/c applied to large transport jets. The problem is the engineers or test pilots of transport a/c had different interpretations of what Va meant vs. what the line pilots thought it meant.
Boeing issued clarification also.