Keep in mind, also, that certification stalls start with a trim speed a little above the stall. I have no idea what THS setting would have been the target range during certification but I would opine that it certainly wasn't near full up .. this may have had adverse implications on this occasion.
Further we don't have much of a story relating to just what the guys up front were actually looking at ?
the poor guys failed to recognize ... (#548)
I don't really think that we have anywhere near enough information to suggest other than that your postulated circumstance may be one of a number of possible scenarios on this occasion ?
Time will tell what the CVR may have revealed to the BEA folk but I will be very surprised if there is any panic on the flightdeck until, perhaps, the last few seconds. It has been my observation that experienced flightcrew tend to hang in there in spite of what eventually becomes an obvious pending outcome.
We are talking a reasonable level of experience here, not ab initio student pilots with only a few hours under their belts ...