I fly those deep night, no moon, no star conditions over open ocean water routinely. As I mentioned earlier, even the most skilled and experienced pilots can get into trouble on a night like that. It happens down here all the time. July 2 was the new moon and the conditions the next night would have been a very deep, dark night near Grand Cay.
Pilots need to be current for these exact conditions - no moon, deep night, over-water conditions, not just having a rating.
I agree, this was not a ditch.