Absolutely. As the speed approached zero the warnings would stop. (The logic being the speed was impossible.) As the plane gathered speed but was still below stall, the warnings would start again. That's very confusing to pilots who don't know what they're doing. And probably confusing to pilots who do know what they're doing.
My understanding is there weren’t any analog flight instruments. Boeing always has them as backup. If they just had an attitude indicator, perhaps a VSI too - but it was a dark and stormy night (as the saying goes) - they lost situational awareness in panic mode.
When the first results of the black box was released I could swear that it was said they were getting wildly varying airspeed/rate of climb indications. Like zero to 400 kts, up/down Plus many of their other instruments weren’t acting right.
Some pilot FReepers came on and said SOP is to set angle of attack and throttle and let the plane fly out of the situation.
If they did that and the airspeed was warning you of overspeed, you would pull back on the stick.
I won’t airchair quarterback these guys. I wasn’t there and I have no idea what was going on in that cockpit on a 4 minute/ten mile plunge from cruise. But I have a feeling they were going by the book and the plane was telling them something different.
RIP crew and passengers.