Authority
Meikleour,
Interesting, the lack of enough pitch authority to get the nose down from an unusually high attitude.
NOTE though, that will only be the case if you just try to PUSH the nose down.
That is the reason why we ex-air force guys like to roll the aircraft past ninety degrees bank, you will then be able to get (pull) the nose down with positive g, much more comfortable, pax won't be flying out of their seats, etc.
Have always been appalled by the civvie aversion against this technique.
The AF447 would not have needed such an overbank though, 15 degrees nose up is not yet extremely high, and it SEEMS from flight data that enough authority was available to get the nose down, no matter how vehemently some people try to deny that.
Of course I agree with your training point that the trim should not be forgotten, in extreme situations like unusual attitudes and stalls.