First, and as with any tragic accident such as this, heartfelt condolences to the families and friends and prayers the crew are at peace according to their belief(s). Second, I hope this isn't too far a drift from the thrust of the thread and/ or it doesn't cast a disparaging light on the crew or anyone else involved - it isn't intended to, but Crab activated the few of my remaining brain cells and I felt compelled to opine.
...so many possible causes getting in the way of the prime function - fly the aircraft!
Couldn't agree more, Crab. I still hang on to something passed on to me by an old friend and colleague. We were discussing simple ways of instilling that same "fly the aircraft" first mentality in the FNGs that seemed to have a growing fascination and fixation on the new whizbang gadgets and gizmos starting to appear (this was 1981 and I was picking up a new 212). He told me he still used the old and simplistic "CAR" acronym to make his point:
C: CONTROL the aircraft, A: ANALYSE the situation and R: RESOLVE/ REACT. He claimed, no matter what the situation, from the time you blast off til you walk off into the sunset while the rotors slowly coast down, you have to do things in that order, because; once you lose control - you're probably going to lose. Next, if you react before you analyse - in essence,
you're shooting in the dark, and while you may get lucky, chances are you're probably going to lose - especially in more advanced, multi-engine aircraft where your reactions may be an answer to multiple choice questions. Bottom line...
...fly the aircraft!
Now, I realize I'm an old hammerhead with mad cow disease and strong opinions and, notwithstanding a major catastrophic failure, sometimes situations aren't "that simple" but, and then again, maybe they are.