Did you read the story? The placement of the goggle case behind the yoke is “non-standard procedure” and there is nothing on the checklist to remind the pilots to remove it. It was just an oversight and what HAL would call “human error”.
Yes, I read the post. The preflight check calls for a yoke check and free movement of all flight controls and setting the trim for takeoff. During the flight control check the pilot and or copilot would have encountered the yoke obstruction.
FUBAR