Stuka Child, thanks.
That was the specific incident, however we should not jump to any conclusion just because there appears to be many events. Aircraft type specific, rarity of event, different training, … but no smoke without fire.
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Accidents usually involve a combination of issues, different aspects of disorientation - conflicting spatial senses. The stick force issue might contribute via the points in OP #1, what pilots feel in relation to what is seen - IFR manual instrument flight. This aspect of force can be demonstrated / experienced in simulators; - to what extent do pilots use stick force in forming the ‘big picture’ when manoeuvring aircraft.
From an old 737 (classic?) incident: fuel cross-feed balancing selected, overlooked by distraction, route change, the AP had difficulty in turning. The crew disengaged the AP, falsely judged roll control with respect the mis-trimmed, unbalance lateral stick feel, the aircraft rolled thought 90 deg with crew holding zero force - stick offset creating roll. N.B. lateral trim may not exhibit the same characteristics as pitch trim.
Pilots may be unfamiliar with situations which require flight with offset stick force, having to ignore the haptic sense and concentrate on the instruments - vision is the primary sense.
Golden, a potential ‘common’ contribution is misuse of trim in those aircraft with susceptible systems; see link in # 27. The amount of nose down is not important; the issue is that the nose is pointing down, and why.
e.g. a GA involving a high nose up pitching moment - low engines, max thrust. If the compensating stick forward control continues to be held forward, and still trimming with the expectation that trim will result in zero stick force, then it is conceivable that over correction will continue to lower the nose and the trim positioned nose down, effectively controlling the aircraft. These aircraft require that the stick is moved towards centre to identify in-trim conditions, whereas other trim systems will reduce stick force at the existing control position.