From what I've read about the Stirling crash, the scenario I imagine, is that the pilot lowered the flaps, and they only went down on one side. Rudder and/or aileron were applied to counteract the yaw, increasing the sink rate; power was applied but did not arrest the descent rate in time to prevent the ground getting in the way.
Except that if he had asymetric flap deployment, he probably would not have crashed on the extended centreline.