A "downdraft" out over the ocean that was unrecoverable from 2,525 ft.????  Now THAT'S a stretch.....I'd say more likely the crash was due to a combination of pilot inexperience, operating at night, driven by "get home-itis" while trying to fly in bad weather.  Can you say: "perfect conditions for spatial disorientation followed by loss of control leading to a stall-spin accident???"  Just ask Jon-Jon Kennedy.