Vertical Speed
To me, there is a much bigger issue than the "sawtooth" trace of selected vertical speed values prior to 2:10:06 (in reference to the graph in posts #1186 and #1195) -- WHY is the selected vertical speed shown as being constant in those graphs after 2:10:42? If what the PF saw on the VSI during that period was a constant, slightly positive value, completely unresponsive to his pitch inputs, it seems likely that he would conclude that the VSI reading was erroneous.