[Leon]

I find it odd that the trim coming off would cause a complete lack of control.

Just from personal flying experience (which is limited, ~100 hours), the trim elevator simply acts as an aid to the elevator (the part of the tail that produces upward or downward lift). It's not necessary for stable flight, it just eases the strength with which you need to apply a pulling or pushing force to the controls. Losing one side to me wouldn't offset the sideways movement of the plane enough to necessitate a crash, perhaps other elements were involved. The plane literally just broke. Very sad.

Perhaps some more experienced aviators could shed some light on this.