Thanks for that Centaurus, all interesting stuff. It rather indicates that my speculation about somatogravic illusion was just so much hogwash! And aircraft of that time didn't tend to accelerate at any great rate anyway; not even going downhill!
Did you notice that the findings came from a "Court" of Enquiry? it wasn't until much later that they became "Boards".
The findings of most enquiries of that time were perforce speculative relying as they did largely on witness evidence and this one was no different.
Three sets of engine fire extinguishers were discharged and three engines lost some power, any significance there?
By the way, the inertia switches didn't have to be damaged in order to energise the circuits; they consisted of a steel ball restrained by springs in a fore and aft mounted shallow U shaped tube and given a sufficient decelleration the ball moved up the tube and closed the electrical circuit. I remember looking at such a box in the nose of a Lancaster in flight one day and noticing a large T shaped handle sticking out of it with a very grubby red canvas flag attached on which I could just make out the words TO BE REMOVED BEFORE FLIGHT. I didn't dare remove the pin in flight, just in case, but I did bring it to the attention of the relevant authority after landing.
The Britannia had a similar system plus wipe-off switches in the engine nacelles. If operated they would shut off fuel and oil supplies to the engines, shut down the generators, and fire the extinguishers. This happened undemanded once and led to a large handle being fitted in the flight deck above the windscreens which would reverse the whole process and allow you to relight the engines. It was known colloquially as the OH MY CHRIST handle.
The engine control levers in the Hastings didn't have the knurled nuts to set their friction as in the Lancaster and Lincoln but had instead had a pair of rather nice, and sensitive, levers set in the quadrant next to the throttle and RPM levers. The procedure, in the RAF, when the Captain called for climb power was:
One hand on the throttles, one hand to reduce the friction, reduce the boost, friction back on.
One hand on the RPM levers, one hand to reduce the friction, reduce the RPM, friction back on.
All the levers moved fore and aft, again unlike the Lancaster/ Lincoln.
The Captain in this accident did a superb job of making a split second decision and following it through to a successful conclusion; everyone walked away.