Three air crew in the cockpit ALL failed to perform the most basic task of fling an aircraft - monitoring and managing speed. Perhaps the most critical task on short final. The speed was already well below designated at 20-25 seconds out ... and yet none of the 3 flight crew by all appearances noticed until just 7 seconds from impact.
The Captain claims he believed the auto thrust was managing power/speed, which is an incredible admission - at least to me. Just because you THINK the aircraft systems are managing does NOT absolve any pilot from monitoring and taking action if the automated systems are wrong.
I simply cannot wrap my mind around the fact that high time air transport pilots, operating "heavy's" can fail such a base level key task as proper power management/speed control.
One question I do have ... is it possible that the Captain, who in his training role occupies the right seat and assumes the FO role and responsibilities, was simply rusty on the FO tasks? Doesn't IMO absolve the pilot flying - as he too should have been doing a primary scan of the key flight parameters - incl power and speed.