Originally Posted by
HP90
As with all Airbus A/C, the two side-sticks are not linked (meaning moving one will not move the other), so the A/C instead uses a system of "side-stick priority" to determine which input to act upon in the event of simultaneous stick inputs.
So, assuming the captain had side-stick priority, then any inputs by the co-pilot would have been ignored, as the jammed camera was making a constant input on the captain's side-stick. If the co-pilot had pushed his own side-stick priority button, then he would have been able to pull the A/C out of the dive, allowing the captain to retract his seat and cease the input on his side-stick.
I know it's easy to say from an armchair, but I'm amazed that neither the captain nor co-pilot apparently thought to do that.
That is addressed in the report and from memory was related to the captain continuously pressing his AP disconnect button (believing it must be an AP malfunction) which inhibited the priority function. I think it also mentions the difficulties the co-pilot was having physically getting back into position. By all accounts it was a wild 30 seconds!