Machinbird
'throughout the flight, the movements of the elevators and the THS were consistent with the pilot’s input'
BEA Third Interim Report
It is important to recall that the pilot was the one who was making the inputs. This is where the Aristotel report falls down and badly in that it assumes that these inputs are a result of factors that can be designed out rather than factors that rest in human entities. One can almost say that it is written to the requirements of a pilots union. Rereading the 3rd Interim report we have a clueless PF and a PNF who doesn't feel he has the authority to intervene even though he seems to understand what is happening (as jcjeant succinctly notes). The more important document here is the Air France safety audit. It identified cultural issues that would lead to such a series of events. I'm not going to discount PIO entirely but it doesn't fit the circumstances of the accident and would not rate as a causal factor.