Has it occurred to anybody that the Pilot maybe just didn't fully latch the "hand" to the Yoke?
Yes, again, see my post #169 of 17th August and the second to last paragraph of my post immediately above yours.
_incidentally....a balljoint,installed so that gravity holds the ball in the socket, will not separate ,if within it's articulation limits
the harder it's loaded, the tighter the two parts engage.
Aircraft are sometimes subjected to zero and negative 'G', which rather negates that point.