Had he done that in a Western airline with a load of passengers onboard at a European city he would have been locked up and rightly so. We don't know his background, training and experience but it is likely to have involved an airforce and combat approaches. The weather was clear, any accident would have been in the sea rather than a built up area and I'm sure the other crew members knew what they signed up for. We need to measure what he did with a different yardstick than the one used for a first world airline.
UNITA rebels in Angola were supplied by flights from South Africa which operated low level at night in turbine DC3s risking CFIT, ground fire and air attack which was much higher risk than a 360' turn on a clear day.