Nice flying
Hello Gums,
Impressive VTR of that LEF UP landing.
Good thing you kept AOA so low during the entire event.
I remember that in the first half of the eighties a Belgian F-16 was lost with the same failure (albeit that, IIRC, the torque tube there really failed mechanically, not just loosened because of a forgotten cotter pin).
The Belgian approach went well, but during the flare, the AOA went up too high and a quick roll over followed. Pilot ejected, but bailout trajectory was already about level (90 degrees of roll) so he did not survive.
You are correct in your evaluation that all that was needed in the AF case was to hold the usual ATTITUDE and THRUST for a couple of minutes. The correct words/commands would have helped - CHECK PITCH (ATTITUDE) or SET PITCH ON THE HORIZON, not - you are climbing - I know - you are still climbing (etcetera). The climb did eventually stop, but the pitch attitude was still way off the mark, of course.