AAIB report on this incident is now out
here. It must fill southern N Sea offshore workers with dread. Two aborted take-offs with a pax offloaded each time, then a mishandled departure leading to both pilots being disoriented and pointing the aircraft at the sea with a 36 degrees nose down pitch attitude and ROD of >3000fpm before arresting the descent at 50ft.
A lot of factors in there but the basic one seems, once again, to be disorientation compounded by pilots struggling to work out what the auto-pilot is trying to do to the aircraft.
All credit to both guys for finally getting themselves out of this very very scary situation but it doesn't exactly instil confidence.
NS