Derfred
In the level bust of A330 I think with over speed the pilot disconnected AP and when the aircraft climbed initially due to high speed protection and then due to alpha protection he didn't do any thing. It was strange because pushing the stick is a normal reaction to prevent climb and would have that cancelled the protection. In QZ case we do not know the whole story. The problem with the protections is that they were designed to prevent pilot indiscretions and not severe environmental changes. They work fine and may saved hundreds of incidents which we do not come to know. But the protections get triggered even when the environment is the cause like Bilbao, where aircraft was sinking in a severe down draft and pilot was struggling to pull but alpha prot was triggered by the high AOA and pitched the aircraft down as it was programmed to. In the level bust it maintained the alpha prot but due the prevailing AOA due to wind changes caused the aircraft to climb instead pitch down as it would have normally.