"Dudley Henriques" wrote:

[snipped for brevity]

There's something about this report some of us don't quite get, and it
concerns the zero set on the altimeters. The TB fly a zero set altimeter for
a show. It's not only basic for low altitude acro work, but it's specified
in the regulations for the Thunderbird mission and procedures

What puzzles me isn't whether or not he zeroed the altimeter prior to
launch or was attempting to convert AGL elevations to MSL altitudes,
but rather why he failed to recognize via outside visual cues that he
was simply too low to the ground to even THINK about initiating a
Split-S maneuver.

Clearly, he knew that something was wrong early on since he reportedly
exerted "maximum back stick pressure and rolled slightly left to
ensure the aircraft would impact away from the crowd should he
have to eject." Despite his exceedingly close proximity to the ground
the fact that he managed to eject successfully is another indication
that he realized quite early on that he done screwed up!

If you look at the cockpit video it's obvious that his head is tilted
way back watching the horizon while he was inverted prior to initating
the Split-S. My primary question is why he didn't abort the Split-S
and simply continue the roll at the top of the maneuver and perform
an Immelmann instead of pressing on with the Split-S?