Seldom
Yes - they did.
They did what? Flew the aircraft into a rock? Flew is in that context active, and
assumes they were in control.
It is undisputed that they were at the controls. Whether the aircraft was responding correctly to the control inputs is unsupported by any evidence (and the contrary is also unsupported - there is simply no evidence).
2 Senior officers decided otherwise, and their motives are open to question.
The lack of airworthiness is not open to question, there is ample evidence to prove otherwise.