The gentlemen flying the aircraft were handed a basket of snakes.
Not really. All they needed to do was to:
1. Take a deep breath and watch what the aircraft did under the pitch and power that was set before the AP dropped out.
2. Make gentle corrections to ensure that altitude and heading were maintained within some reasonable limits given the turbulence encountered.
Instead, they panicked, pulled back on the stick, and, with the help of autotrim, pulled the airplane up into a stall.