Richard Feynman - "The Meaning of it All"
Feynman, the Nobel Prize winning quantum mechanics guru, wrote about a number of subjects besides physics. He was asked why some students had such difficulty learning to spell certain words. Feynman said the problem wasn't the student, but that the word was not spelled correctly.
Maybe that applies here. If competent, highly trained professionals have difficulty sorting out an already confusing situation in a short period of time, maybe the system is the problem.
Designers need to rethink the interfaces with the pilots, including the complexity of the different levels of degradation. Software engineers need to have a bit less confidence in their ability to produce an infallible product. Time for a major rethink all around, IMHO.