I doubt it's anything nefarious. Competence is certainly a huge factor, but it isn't everything. It's crazy how much market activity spikes when the stock market tanks. And, unlike holiday retail rushes, it's very difficult to anticipate and plan for such days. (If anyone knows how, they're way too busy getting filthy rich to bother with telling anybody else how to do it.) So you're invariably caught off guard.
Source: Worked at a firm that never actually went down under the load, but got plenty of cardio in helping to make sure it didn't.
Source: Worked at a firm that never actually went down under the load, but got plenty of cardio in helping to make sure it didn't.