There's a P in PIO... the meat as some of you call it. It took a pilot to rapidly deflect alternating full rudder until it snapped off, in the case of AA587, that was no autopilot causing it.
In fact, I don't think there has ever been an incident where an autoflight/autopilot system was ultimately responsible for the crash of an airplane, so if this system caused departure into an unsalvageable state, that would be a first.
Except, it's not a first for pilots to fly into the top end of a (major!) CB and losing it.
So, when you hear a stampede, think cows, not zebras (for those of us living where there predominantly are cows)...