Fair enough about the 'experience' of some of the crew. Research is always good. [Perhaps you do not realise the crew were not known at the time the comment about their experience was made - I take the comment of inexperience is about their [b]SD on a black night over water issue perhaps.] However I'm not pulling my head in. The rumour (not generated by me but passed on by me here) seems accurate in that the helo catastrophically impacted the water. Perhaps
Spatial Disorientation at Night had an evil hand in the loss of the crew, especially perhaps if the crew were not used to flying low over the ocean on a black night. Just my guess. SD can be experienced at any time depending upon many factors. Your research about 'black night SD low over water' will help you understand. SD affects all aircrew in flight -
unrecognised SD can be fatal as in the instance below.
A very experienced Japanese Air Force pilot probably experienced
unrecognised SD at night in an F-35A at high altitude but he flew into the water at a very high speed:
Japan blames spatial disorientation for F-35 crash (defensenews.com)