Rightly or wrongly, it is usual for Jounros to cover a story as if they are not there. Whether its earthquakes, wars, or cats up a tree, the idea, I beleive, is to sit back and watch and report on how things unfold. Most people have already made up their mind if they agree with this way of thinking or not and thats their opinion. Again rightly or wrongly, I don't doubt that the journo would have had his butt kicked if the boss knew he/she were on board and didn't get something news-worthy out of it.
A similar occurence springs to mind when an Ethiopian Airlines plane was highjacked and crashed into the sea - a cameraman (I don't know if it was a professional or not) remained on the beach taking pictures while others swam out to help survivors.
Personally I found the footage interesting in looking at the passengers' reaction to the crisis. Who was helping others? Who was helping themself? Who was helpless? While no technical information as the cause of the crash may be gained from the footage, perhaps an analysis of the success of the evacuation as well as how the actions of passengers can affect the survivability of the crash. I haven't looked that closely mind you, don't know if that sort of thing is covered.