“The pilots were so confused, they spent their final minutes doing exactly the opposite of what every new pilot is taught.”
The copilot. The pilot was not in the cockpit till too late.
IIRC there were three crew members. The Senior captain was sleeping after an all-nighter with his GF in Rio, leaving two juniors as PF and PNF. He left the cabin shortly before they were due to hit some dicey weather. He returned in time, but did not recognize what was going on quickly enough (or at all).