at that stage they believed they were "protected" by the automation
Shades of SFX?
I've flown with a bloke who selected flap zero after take-off instead of gear up
Not the first, not the last, not the only one. In my outfit the threat was identified as the call "BUG UP" for flap retraction; and with credit it was changed.
FMA's? All well and good to read them, call them, see them, BUT you need to understand them? I've flown with guys who though they had selected a descent mode on MCP just as the FMA transitioned into ALT HLD. I called out ALT HLD = "Check". This pantomime was repeated a few times before the message got across that the a/c was not descending. There was a dumfounded look of confusion. It didn't matter how it had happened; it was not what was required and therefore need changing.
Same with engine out no A/T is use. ATC says descend. LVL CHG selected and ac/ stays in level flight. FMA says MCP SPD in pitch; A/T is empty. VSI is zero. That also caused some question marks to float out of the cranium. LVL CHG had been pressed; FMA said MCP SPD so why was it not descending? I must add that saying nothing in the back of the sim, just waiting for the dawn to come up and the lights to come on, is the best educational method and the most entertaining. The students I enjoyed the most were those who berated their own dumbness. Others were less self critical.