I would have thought that two experienced pilots would have been better witnesses to the actual occurrence than a CVFDR
That's a bit unfair on the crew, I had a flight where we were convinced a blade control rod was about to disconnect but it turned out to be a gyro bearing failure. The recollection of the crew is coloured by emotion so until the CVFDR is recovered I wouldn't want anyone rushing around making statements if it was me.
Just my 2 cents
Si