Guys,
Just a dumb question from somebody ignorant of detailed aircraft systems:
How do the accident investigators know when the tail detached? Could the excessive rudder movements, a fraction of a second later, be the pilot/flight system trying to get a response from the rudder?
Just how can the two events be so conclusively sequenced unless the excessive rudder movements where being executed by the pilot/flight system for a significant amount of time before the breakage. The current view surely assumes that there was no play in the tail before it detached (very sudden!) and that there is some sensor somewhere that can conclusively identify (with other evidence) a very precise time of failure.
Cheers,
Kef.