[ThinkingMan]

It is my understanding that the pitch and yaw are controlled by computer. I was thinking on the lines of the computer overcompensating for the sudden heating.

It would make more sense if the heating caused a sudden flattening of the port leading edge- it would reduce the drag coefficient and (if I remember correctly) increase lift.

As I stated- just pure speculation on my part- my aerospace experience is limited to the design of model rockets. I will patiently wait for NASA to explain.

[Poohbah]

It is my understanding that the pitch and yaw are controlled by computer.

Within limits.

Once the catastrophic failure began, no amount of computer control was going to stop it.