AA Captain John Francis LaVelle is on record as having said that AA587 F/O Sten Molin had kicked the rudder pedals while flying as F/O on the B727 at an earlier time.
"He had excellent flying ability, however, he had one strange tendency: To be very agressive on the rudder pedals!"
Captain LaVelle stated that during a climb out in a B727, while the airplane was dirty with flaps at 5 degrees, Mr. Molin stroked the rudder pedals "1-2-3, about that fast."
Captain LaVelle thought that they had lost an engine. Captain LaVelle asked him what he was doing, and Mr. Molin said that he was leveling the wings due to wake turbulence. Captain LaVelle stated that Mr. Molin had never leveled the wings, and his actions had just created yawing moments on the airplane.
Captain LaVelle thought that Mr. Molin was more aggressive than he needed to be. He said that the B727 was a very stable airplane. "Sten was aggressive in his approach to wake turbulence."
