Chris, I figured the URL out. The software is fooling us into just clicking on the hot link. We need to copy the entire line into a search engine. Such as " armrest af447 site:http://www.pprune.org/tech-log/".
It will likely never be known, but considering the wild, full deflection SS movements the PF made throughout the event; I have to wonder if the armrest was UP. Not whether is was properly adjusted, but if it was even in the down (required for flying) position. The PF could easily have raised it after reaching cruise alt for any one of many reasons (dropped a pencil, dropped a chart, dropped a M&M) and not lowered it again.
For the flight sim'rs and SLF out there, the SS side armrest must be down and properly adjusted in order to hand fly the aircraft. This is to isolate the pilots hand and wrist (which manipulate the SS) from the rest of the pilots body. With the forearm resting on a properly positioned armrest, the pilot can manipulate the SS with precision. When one attempts to hand fly with the armrest up, PIO's are hard to prevent because flight loads move the pilots body which moves the arm which moves the hand which moves the stick.
In my case, it was at rotation in smooth air on a VMC day and I was able to drop the arm rest before the gear came up, but SS control was compromised for sure.
FWIW, I will defend the pilots until it's obvious to ME that they were the cause, but even I have a hard time defending the continuous full scale deflections of the SS. Every Airbus SS pilot with any hand flying experience understands that the you don't "stir the pot". "Stir the pot" = slang term for excessive and inappropriate full scale deflections of the SS.
edited to fix typographical errors and add caveat
Caveat: I'm speaking of the 320 when I speak of the armrest. I can only assume that the 330 has the same set up.