The Southern 242 accident was, like all other accidents, unique. The crew penetrated what they thought was the area with least activity when in fact it was the area of the MOST activity in the line of thunderstorms. The initial penetration smashed the cockpit windows and filled the intakes with hail. When the throttles were moved reportedly the engines were immediately burned out. The crew advised ATC of their problem and ATC, not fully understanding the problem, gave them a frequency change. During this time the crew made a few turns and eventually tried to land on a road. As noted, they clipped a few telephone poles and the aircraft broke up with fatalities. The airports mentioned, Dobbins AFB was out of range and Cartersville is a gen av airport with runways too short for a -9.
On a second point, much is being made of the glider. The USAir Capt has his glider rating and so do I but every pilot is somewhat experienced in gliding when they pull the throttle to idle and descend. You maintain speed with pitch when there is fixed (or lack of) thrust. The main thing is to not get distracted with procedures and fly the airplane which this Capt did. Again, an extraordinary feat by the entire crew.