Guys I'm not defending what happened, but these pilots were trained that the max slat speed indicators would keep them safe.
Obviously the max slat speed indicator was giving them erroneous information - it wasn't taking into account max Mach. Once they dropped the slats the computer changed its mind, dropped the max slat speed to .51 Mach and pulled the throttles to idle.
Their first big mistake was retracting the slats - but they were, indeed, overspeeding them.
After that it was just a high alt/weak thrust/heavy weight/low speed scenario. Sure, they should have hit the big red button, dumped the nose and maxed the power. But they were also in very congested airspace.....
Like I said, I'm not defending their actions, but they thought they could trust the max slat speed indicator....