It really does not matter if the CFIT deviated intentionally or not. Most
likely if CFIT implies that they descended below the minimum published
altitudes for that segment.

Perhaps I am wrong (as so many of you are pointing out)
but if I make a descent rate to arrive at a step down higher than published,
it seems as though my descent rate has a good chance to not get me to the
MDA when the time is up (or distance) and I have to go missed. So
eventually I would have to do the dreaded "dive and drive" later anyway.

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David Megginson wrote:

Greg Esres writes:

To comment that "if they fly the approach as published, they won't hit
anything" is a very shallow analysis. Not every CFIT deviated
intentionally from the published approach.

The other question is what "as published" means for an NPA -- do you
make a vertical descent at every stepdown fix? The whole point of an
NPA is that there is no vertical profile published, only a series of
minimum altitudes.

Very well stated.