Since this was an A330, there are two Alternate Law reversions possible.
Per BEA, the aircraft reverted to Alt 2 Law.
Per my understanding of the flight control system:
Alt 2 is a
roll direct law. This means that the aircraft is in
direct law on the roll channel and Alternate Law in pitch.
Roll direct law
Provides a direct stick-to-surface position relationship. The gains are automatically set
according to the slats/flaps configuration.
The maximum roll rate is approximately 20 to 25° / second, depending on the speed and
configuration.
Spoilers 2, 3 and 6 are inhibited, except in case of some additional failures affecting the
lateral control.
Direct law is a
'you fly it' law. Control displacement causes proportional control surface displacement very much like any non-FBW aircraft.
This means to me that keeping hands on stick was not optional, particularly if the aircraft was a bit right wing heavy. There is no lateral trim on Airbus. About all you might hope to do is throw in a bit of rudder trim to compensate and move fuel around to adjust lateral balance. The PF could not have let go of the stick with a wing heavy aircraft. Under this situation, he could very easily tense up and apply unintentional nose up input.
Now, would some real A330 pilot tell me if I am reading the Flight Control FCOM properly.
