Stall warning or no, there is nothing unclear about buffet, an unwinding altimeter that is going through FL's once every three seconds and the inability to arrest a 10,000fpm rate of descent.
- this is the crux of the matter. We can talk about 'startle'/'fright'/PIOs/FBW/UAS training/QRHs etc etc until the cows come home, but as PJ characteristically has pointed out, there was a big 'hole' in comprehension throughout the cockpit, and I recall beating my gums (sorry Sir...
) over and over again about 'symptoms of the stall' in days of yore, and a low (or in the AB case, NCD) IAS, high nose attitude and ginormous rate of descent SHOULD have switched on the light. Surely it is not unreasonable to expect that at least one of the three would have noticed?