And for an example of when flying skills saved the day, look no further than the Qantas B707 incident on route to Bahrain in 1969, described euphemistically as a "Steep Dive and Recovery', in reality a total loss of control.
I was among those who met the crew on landing in BAH, and we heard the Captain say that he only got back in control, at 6,000' or so (from FL360 or thereabouts), when he went back to basic training days and "recovery from unusual attitudes" in a Tiger Moth.
Mind you, in those days the pilots could move the control surfaces with the control column and rudder bar, even on a B707, and all the primary instruments were there.
There were many injuries in the cabin as the aircraft pulled large positive and negative G forces, rolled and generally behaved badly. Flying debris accounted for much of it, especially the 3 bottles of liquor allowed per passenger, bearing in mind the stowage arrangements of that time.
"Steep Dive"? Ho, ho, ho.
The aircraft was ferried empty, skin wrinkles and all, for sale as scrap.