The velocity vector in the HUD was never showing he was going to make the field. He should of ejected earlier.
With hindsight - yes. But let's not arm chair quarter back too much! The guy was straight of pilot course, and this was pretty much a BRAND NEW jet. I was on the Board of Inquiry, and wrote that the ejection decision had been made at the last possible minute, but you have to have sympathy for why the guy hung in their until the last possible moment.
I'm also not convinced by some of the remarks of posters here saying they would have been gone on the first mention of the E word. An ejection is a very violent process, physical injury is to be expected. Big D for anyone!
For information, the jet was very intact thanks to its muddy, slow speed impact. Sat outside the Ohakea Museum for years.