As the article writer quite rightly points out the Coglan pilots both had in excess of this minimum. The cause of that crash was p*ss poor contracts
One can not rewrite history, but it is hard to believe that the accident would have occurred if the Captain had spent some time towing banners, flight instructing or doing pretty much anything else that low time pilots do. Instead he went from zero to hero in a poorly structured PFT scheme, and never learned basic skills.
Or to put it simply, no pilot who spent his formative years towing or instructing would have pulled the wheel into his gut. THAT is what caused this accident.