"I don't really want to be dragged in to the SS/yoke battle except to say that if I had been dragged out of my pit in my silk pyjamas and arrived in a cockpit at 35,000' with 15 degrees nose up, 10,000fpm+ and a co-pilot with the yoke back in his groin, I might have had a clue as to why the nose was up that high - I hope so."
Very interesting point. There has been a lot mentioned about the lack of SS feedback to the pilot but very little about the lack of feedback to the rest of the crew compared to the old fashioned yoke, feedback that in this case may have been vital.
I also wonder about the constant noises bells and whistles going off. There has been a lot of research showing that constant loud noises are an accelerant to panic (as anyone having to deal with a runaway smoke alarm at 2 in the morning can attest) which appears to have been a factor in this accident. By all means aural messages are good but constant repetitive noises will simply dramatically increase stress and degrade performance. The pilots knew there was a problem, and the constant alarms did not help them find a solution.