Less luck, more good design. The accident investigation report reckons that this was close to the worst-case scenario: the first pitch-down was almost at the ma

Less luck, more good design. The accident investigation report reckons that this was close to the worst-case scenario: the first pitch-down was almost at the maximum possible, the other fault protection systems made it unlikely that more than two such uncommanded pitch-downs could happen in a flight, and it wasn't possible for this to happen anywhere near close enough to the ground that the pilots wouldn't be able to recover even if they panicked.