The NTSB Accident Report on AA 587, paragraph 1.18.10 Airbus Technical Note, states:
On April 8, 2004, Airbus issued a technical note, titled “AAL 587 – Pedals Force Analysis,” that provided Airbus’ estimate of the rudder pedal forces during the seconds before the vertical stabilizer separated from the airplane. Airbus used FDR data for rudder pedal position, estimates of rudder position, estimates of yaw damper position, and ground test data to derive the pedal force estimate.
The technical note indicated that, during the accident sequence, the forces applied by the first officer to the rudder pedals were much higher than the forces required to reach the rudder travel limit for 240 knots. Airbus found that the highest force applied by the pilot during the accident sequence was about 140 pounds but that the pedal force required to reach the rudder travel limit during that time was about 30 pounds. The note further indicated that the rudder control cable was stretched each time that the rudder travel limit was contacted.
The Airbus note is not discussed in the NTSB report that was published in october 2004, and I could not find it on the NTSB website. Has anyone more information?