PJ2,
Apologies if I appeared to be putting words in your mouth! Your previous mention "... with the benefit for example, of all the comments on this thread thus far" immediately brought Kulverstuka's post to mind.
IIRC there have been other references suggesting an unpleasant atmosphere but without saying why. Considering an identical aircraft in the same airline had suffered a similar overrun a short time before, one might expect heightened awareness of the danger, moreso with a very light load. Something must have seriously distracted them.