MU - I endorse your 2390 post completely, except to point out that wrt your last paragraph, the A/T would have COMMANDED 'closed' if working normally with a RoD of 1400fpm. As has been repeatedly highlighted on this thread, the crew, and in particular the T Cpt, would not have found this throttle position 'unusual' for a large part of that approach, but one would have hoped that he would have been particularly attentive to the inherent dangers, his 'self-preservation' instints aroused by the apparent 'rush' of the approach..
To answer mike r - yes, they are more 'common' than my 'training ground' (mil IRE like yours) would have tolerated. There is an undue over-emphasis on the 'Continual Descent Approach' in commercial operations, which can push crews into an 'above' capture very easily. Now chuck in the 'ze aircraft will not let me stall' mentality - there is much fat to chew, I fear.