First, I have never flown an AirBus. The name is a "turn-off" and is the best indicator that the pilots are secondary (bus drivers) as far as the Manufacturer is concerned.
The stabilizers were found after the crash. The horizontal slab was found at max. deflection.
Lack of a control wheel between the pilots' legs prevented them from seeing the stabilizer trimming in what we would consider a "runaway stabilizer" Boeing emergency. The sidestick control wouldn't have told them anything or changed it by the time it reached full deflection. It is just a series of rheostats sending electrical signals and apparently could not have controlled the stabilizer once the A/P Mode changed, from the explanations above.
That the pilots could not tell the stabilizer had run to max deflection is a major and deadly design flaw, because a runaway stabilizer is an extreme emergency. In Boeings, the wheel comes back at you and you see the trim wheel spinning. A control wheel force against the stabilizer direction stops it, and the procedures call for the manual trim handle to be used to gain control.
We should all resent the "pilot error" blame that always immediately follows, after they are dead.
Regards,
