Lyman, for what it's worth ...
IF you are a pilot flying on instruments,
AND
you (or your friend HAL) make a pitch input that causes the nose to go up ...
AND IF the nose goes higher than you intended it to to go when you or HAL made that input
THEN
you use your hand on the flight controls to make an immediate counter correction that is usually accomplished in two parts (particularly if your task is to fly smoothly in order to keep your passengers as comfortable as you can)
a) first you stop the pitch rate (and you watch all of this on your attitude indicator/AH) and
b) make a second correction to return the nose to the pitch you actually desire for the flight conditions or performance you wish to complete your mission, or the segment of the mission you are on.
As an adjunct:
IF during this process you find your aircraft to be rolling beyond the AOB you desire (which I think would be "wings level" or "0" degrees AOB)
THEN you use that same hand to stop roll, and work the wings back to level via small corrections, or one larger correction. Given what A330 experienced pilots who have posted here have shared, at that altitude the small corrections might be the better technique, as they adivse us that the A330 is sensitive to input in that flight regime when hand flying.
ASIDE: Any pilot who cannot correct for pitch and roll at the same time by referencing his attitude indicator cannot be considered to be qualified to pilot a passenger jet. I am sure both of the pilots in that cockpit had demonstrated time and again that they could make such an input in two axes successfully. I seriously doubt AF would have hired them had they not been able to. The answer to why neither did in this instance, particularly the pilot who handled the controls at the handoff from HAL to Human, remains incompletely answered to my eye, other than to consider comfort with the aforementioned sensitivity to input. What did he see?)
So, even if the plane at hand off was in a non stable state -- which is part of your point -- a change in nose pitch, or a continuation of a nose pitch change in one direction or another is not necessarily a fait accompli if the pilot whose hand is on the stick flies in accordance with standard instrument flying principles, principles he had previously shown he could apply consistently. (For this and other reasons the "pitch and power" chorus has been singing in three part harmony on these forums since about 01 June 2009 .)
Your analysis of what the pitch result was, in and around that point in time, must to be complete (IMO) include a consideration of what flying performance was desired at the time.
At the altitudes in this event, 11 degrees nose up borders on an unusual attitude, for the flight condition and peformance desired on that leg of the mission: straight and level.
Last edited by Lonewolf_50; 5th Dec 2011 at 14:50.