A friend of my did a recent checkride with another Q400 operator. Before going into the sim he was told what Bombardier believed to have happened. The plane was a bit high, on paper a bit fast so he idled the power levers and got the props to max. 100% normal IF you remember to put the power back in. They are big props on that plane and will slow it fast! Rather than figure out why he was on the shaker he made the wrong move by figuring it was a tail stall caused by icing. The (ill) FO pulling the flaps left them doomed.
They say the gear handle is the career handle, forget to put it down and it's all over. I wish I could think of something as poetic for the power levers. It's not the first time a turboprop has crashed this way. Back in '94 an American Eagle J41 crashed for the same reason. Same scenario, new on type Captain, not comfortable with the plane, fast and high, big workload....
This talk of the Captains failed checkrides does not seem 100% relevant. Sure lots of guys fail checkrides. When a crash occurs the NTSB love to drag it back up again. There rarely seems to be a connection between the pink slips and the accident. I don't judge the CA by these failures. However, I do judge him by the fact in his ugly past he "worked" for Gulfstream airlines. The fact this guy paid to fly, for me is the mark of Marvelous Marvin Renslow.