Firstly, was the aircraft right-wing heavy?
Circumstantial evidence only at this point. All turns were made to the right following the initial problem. We will have to wait for BEA to confirm.
Secondly, I can see how it would be a handful, but the force we're talking about here is not an accidental tweak in the wrong direction. To get the THS up to 13 degrees requires full back pressure for several seconds. This is the problem that is not going to be solved until at least an interim report is out, and anything we suggest is ultimately pointless.
Pointless? Not necessarily. Once we have an idea of how this might have happened, we can explore other implications. The number of pathways we have to explore are far fewer than before AF447 was found.
It takes a while for the light to come on with some regarding what the crew faced. The more lights that come on, the easier it is to discuss other factors. At the moment, it seems no one on the thread is volunteering any of their experiences with the ALT2 flight control law. Or maybe they only did it with the aircraft in lateral trim (due to a kind simulator instructor) Maybe no one trained for it with lateral imbalance. That would be significant.