My husband is a pilot and he’s always thought this accident was pilot error - too inexperienced and not enough training to fly that evening.
That is what my flight instructor friends tell me as well.
As a long-ago pilot with extremely rusty skills, I agree with both of you. However, what I found unusual was sending out that Navy ship to recover the remains and the quick burial at sea without an autopsy. That smacked of some sort of cover-up.