Originally Posted by PT6Driver
Rather than could this happen on B rather than A, the question should be could thhis happen with yoke rather than side stick?
The answer is an emphatic yes.
Look at Colgan. Another case of the non lethal leading to lethal.
No, the was no indication in the Colgan prang that the pilots were fighting each other with the controls (nor the 767 prangs). The FO sat there watching. Here, the FO was doing one thing and the captain was doing another. That would have been impossible with control columns. As for pressing the red button, in the heat of the moment, you fight the way you train. Perhaps the captain had never used it, so it was not an automatic response in a "startle" situation.
The fact that this time the pilots were quite experienced
I don't agree. The FO had a career change at middle age and had only 2000-odd hours. If the majority of those were in an A320 "in the new world", he'd have probably 10 hours actual stick time, if that; liftoff to 500ft and 500ft to touchdown on the sectors he was pilot-"flying".