Bookie
A good post. We are obsessed with regulatory issues; as has been said before the aircraft doesnt care what letter is on the side or what card is in the pilot's wallet. What we should care about is why we are forced to jump through more hoops than at Crufts instead of insisting on a joined up regulatory framework within Europe than enables pilots to concentrate on gaining the best training for the job in hand.
I first flew a Cirrus with already a lot of hours on glass and even more hours of flying time. I did two flights with a check pilot. It is a dangerous game second guessing what time a pilot needs but for a low hours pilot there is no doubt Cirrus's own recommendations should be closely followed. For any pilot accustom to flying at typical GA speeds the aircraft will get away from you quickly.
We will never know the exact sequence of events that ended with this tragedy. Some reasonably obvious possibilities have been mentioned. It serves as a another reminder that operating in marginal weather without instrument training can be a risky business even if this wasnt the whole explanation for this accident.