Interesting background info to the report here:
http://www.isasi.org/Documents/libra...pitch_down.pdf
Of particular note:
It is noteworthy that during the pitch down, the Captain, in his desperation to regain control, considered switching off the Air Data and Inertial Reference Units (ADIRU) in order to place the aircraft into ‘direct law’ control mode. Had he done this, the aircraft’s pitch and over-speed self-protection features would have been disabled and the aircraft would almost certainly have exceeded its certified flight envelop limits by a considerable margin, potentially leading to significant damage to the aircraft.
An understatement I'd suggest.