[ops33]

I am also a retired USAF air traffic controller and I agree with your assessment. It would be interesting to find out what altitude and distance from runway the aircraft was when he was cleared for his approach.
(Scott Tower, Zweibrucken GCA, Cannon Tower, Berlin Center, 3d Mob)

[Yosemitest]

My phone/internet has been out from the 7th of July until now, due to lightning burning out the main exchange box for the phone company 7 miles away.
Thanks for the comment, and by now we've seen Fox News and the NTSB report.
They said the approach set him up on a 17 mile final and their graphic showed a good descent until about 3/4 of the way in, at which he leveled off for a short period.
Then the descent went steep and it went downhill from there.