Yeah, I agree - CRM might have been one useful thing ...
Another pilot could also have been a factor to
avoid such stupid action ...
But the mere fact itself that the pilot considered
performing such an action is in my opinion also
caused by the fact that he was trained by the
military - and there he was not only trained similar
maneuvers but also expected to perform them properly.
So, pilots who've a military background have certainly
more experience with unusual flight maneuvers than
those who are civilians.
I bet most military pilots can confirm that flying such
maneuvers (that would otherwise not be allowed)
put a certain kind of 'thrill' to the training and flying
in general...R/W itself can be addicting enough - but
such maneuvers certainly add even more adrenaline
to it ...
And as we know meanwhile he was quite successful
flying beneath the bridge ...merely climbing afterwards
caused the crash since he had skid contact with ice...
From that point of view I would personally think
he wasn't a usual dumbass trying something new -
rather he was going to show something that he's
beein trained to do and done dozens of times before ...
Sure, that does by no means justify the fact to
perform something like that in a civilian a/c with
civilians on board without permission - but it does
show why he was being optimistic to manage
a maneuver like that.
And from what I've read, other paramedics that
previously witnessed similar actions of their rescuse pilots
were simply just astonished be the enormously skilled
pilots.
So, skill and psychological maturity can be two
different things ...
Maybe a mandatory FDR would be a good option
to observe if single pilot machines keep their
cruise course/altitude.