Well as I pointed out in the post above all could appear fine at 1000 feet or at least the pilot flying might think so. Below that height it is perfectly conceivable that a fatigued crew not terribly current in hand flying could end up unstabilised if they lost visual reference. Add a distracted crew, complacency etc. and the need to recover from an unfamiliar situation where the jet responds in a way you do not expect and some self anointed aces might have been challenged.
I too cannot see the point of the CDA versus dive and drive discussion, simply because I cannot imagine anyone flying a modern EFIS jet any other way than CDA...a jurassic jet that is a different matter.