From Old Carthusian
Iain W
There are many examples of 'operatives' of machinery with 'steam gauges' ignoring them with disastrous consequences. The idea that a spatial cognitive load would work better than a visual verbal stimulus is not actually correct. We possess the ability to filter these out as well. The same goes for a stick shaker which given how the PF reacted might have been just as useless as all the other warnings. Recognising the actuality and responding appropriately is the key to dealing with a situation. This involves knowing your machine and good training. The latter aspect is vital in overcoming the psychological shock (and shock is the operative factor here) of a sudden unexpected event. A chain of command could have helped here and more decisive action by the PNF. DozyWannabee raises an important point about human/human interface. Once again we have to ask is AF's flight deck management procedure inadequate?
I should have made it plainer in my wording.
When the verbal cognitive channels are overloaded you can add more to them and all you do is make the effect worse. However, the analogue gauges do not require any verbal cognitive analysis so that channel is unloaded. So you can see a VSI needle move hard down and understand what it means even if the verbal cognitive channel is in overload - numbers changing though won't work as that requires a level of verbal analysis.
And I agree that does not mean that analogue gauges are always right - I lost a friend due to a misread of an old 3 needle analogue altimeter.