Although the verdict of the recent CM must be respected and the individual concerned not be further besmirched, I have something niggling away like an itch that needs to be scratched. The CM found that the Captain genuinely believed that there was a system fault with the a/c and that he had no knowledge of the DSLR fouling the sidestick and therefore causing the 'undemanded' descent of the a/c, so was shocked when this was found to be the cause of the descent.
As we all know, when we carry out a repetitive action over a period of time we develop 'muscle memory' for that particular task, whether that be skiing, driving or in this case, flying. We all carry out repetitive tasks in one form or another every day. The only time these tasks become noteworthy or unusual is if there is a deviation from the normal 'muscle memory' state.
The Captain stated that he had no clue that the DSLR was between the seat armrest and the sidestick.
If we look at the first photo (taken from the SI Document) we see the interaction between armrest/sidestick/forearm. A comfortable and ergonomic position to control the a/c from and a position from which 'muscle memory' is committed.
If we now look at the undisputed forensic reconstruction of the fouling in the last photo, I just have one question.
How can you take hold of the side stick without your left wrist coming into contact with the DSLR? Accepting that something highly unusual, unexpected and distracting is happening to your a/c, you attempt to take corrective action and find it has no effect. Firstly your 'muscle memory' will alert you that something does not feel 'normal' you would then use another sense (sight?) to confirm what is causing the 'alert', even just a quick glance would be all that would be required. Also you can plainly see the stick is deviated considerably to its fwd end of travel, which again would ring the muscle memory alarm bells. Does anybody else feel the itch?