I am not disagreeing with you but if it was a trim fight, then why could they not keep the aircraft flying (albeit very untidily), and keep on feeding opposing trim inputs to return to land?
Why were the pilots in fear and panicked? Why did they not run their memory drills?
I would like to think that faced with this problem, I would think right bugger this : “pitch - power - speed”, now what the hell is going on? But would I ?
I think SIM training needs to be seriously looked at. UAS (and trim runaway) drills are pre-briefed, and the actions explained. Then into the SIM and a UAS event occurs. Unsurprisingly, the pilots do the drill and recover the aircraft. Tick. Next item.
But UAS is not done every SIM visit every 6 months. It might only be done once every 2 or 3 years, as the training cycle rotates. Even then, it will be one of several training elements the pilots will do in that SIM session, and each pilot will typically fly just one of each exercise each, then move on to the next training item.
Just as we always have to do an engine failure at take-off, a single engine ILS to a go-around, then a single engine NPA, I think that we should always practice situations where we have to revert to basic pitch - power - speed. No autopilots, no flight directors, no auto-thrust, no speed reading/UAS. And it should be sprung on us with no prior warning. Recovery from UAS or unusual aircraft behaviour needs to be an instinctive reflex.
(For Single engine, read OEI.)