OC
Franzl
The evidence there is that the PF induced that particular nose down attitude 'There, I've taken it down a bit' to quote. The human element is still the major issue here. Bringing in the FD obfuscates the circumstances and qualifies as a red herring in my book. There is no getting away from the impression that this particular flight crew was thoroughly incompetent.
OC, there is no evidence at all that this phrase at 02:09:54 is related to giving up height. It could be related to the change of radar scale or the reduction of speed (most probable) but not to the altitude.
You are entiteled to make the assumption concerning FD display being a fact or a nonevent, but itīs not correct to use incorrect statements with it and disqualify stated facts of other posters (in this case the attitude of the aircraft) as being a red herring.
There is no getting away from the impression that this particular flight crew was thoroughly incompetent.
Unfortunately most of us have to agree on that statement.