"Surely a 767 full of average joes sustained to 11g would "land" with some rather pained and possibly uncoinscious passengers"
Yes, but it wasn't sustained. In your fast jet example the problem is transference of blood from the head into the limbs, which can cause loss of consciousness within a few seconds, but not in the few milliseconds of an impact.
In that instance the problem is traumatic injury, however 11G isn't all that severe. A car crash at 30mph into an immovable object can subject the driver to around 50G for a very short time (which is definitely a problem). I'd say it is more likely that the pax and crew in this case would have been subjected to extreme discomfort rather than serious injury.
In any case I believe it was stated that the 11G shock was sustained by the nose gear. The tyres, dampers and deformation of the airframe would all have reduced the force experienced by the pax and crew.
Rob