Lone,
"we trouble shot the malfunction we thought we had"
The follow up questions I have re your description of the incident and background of that particular aircraft type/model/configuration:
If there are multiple systems that can trigger the symptoms that are presented to the crew.....is there a method to work down through some sort of Trouble Shooting Tree to correctly identify the culprit causing the problem?
Your narrative makes me question the crew action to determine the fault as it would seem (without access to the Accident Report with its information) they may have decided to delay that analysis until they had hovered over to the Maintenance Area and give the aircraft to the Maintainers or have their assistance available in checking out the problem. There are several logical and relatively minor causes for some binding in flight controls that are not threats to the safety of the aircraft and crew.
Would you happen to have a way of calling up that Accident Report as it would make for interesting reading.
I am not finding fault with the Crew by any means....just trying to see how all the Cheese Holes lined up that day.