This is a dreadful accident! I believe the XL that nose dived a few years back was a Netjets one - luckily the crew managed to recover.
By the way the XL I used to fly would out climb the Airbus I currently fly! Acceleration and performance was very good up to its speed limitations. The 200 kts gotcha is a very big one but was drummed into us during the rating and subsequently on line where good SOPs and awareness kept us out of trouble. I found the XL a safe and forgiving aircraft to operate and loved flying it around Europe, but it was obvious it had been designed on a budget!