I will defer to the certifications, 3holelover. My assumption is that Trim is not considered mandatory for certifying recovery.
That makes it optional. Throw in automatic, and one finds oneself STALLED with a trimset that "may be required in some situations."
Pass. If the a/c can get into a STALL, it should be able to get out the STALL with Elevators. ONLY. In this instance, the THS was NOT trimming the a/c into STALL. IT went all NU after the STALL. Do NOT now say, "BUT THE PILOT", because that is a distraction. It was STALLED, THS at -13, and that was that.
Should we continue to go around the maypole? "But the pilot put it there", YES. We shouldn't have to design a/c as if pilot's will STALL them?
Oh, yes, we should?
I do doubt that the THS is vital for recovery. If I am mistaken, I apologize.
If, and regardless of the pilot's skillset, the a/c is gonna STALL, pumping a TRIM WHEEL to get back to square one seems at the very least counterintuitive, if not demonstrably fatal.