It's inescapable that the default is manual flight. 447 aside, I've noticed broad similarities in many of the more recent accidents.
I´m with you, bufalo and amsterdam crash; they both were able to crash a, for the rest, perfect a/c!
I use those 2 crashes during my profchecks, and yes I am no crash-investigator nor expert, but i do have "some" hours both up-front and behind in the sim. And i have seen a tendency among pilots to fixate instead of AT LEAST 1 (ONE) PILOT FLYING!