Thanks, Chris.
Way I see it as well, with more to add.
Fer chrissakes, if you are trying to impress the folks watching, least you could do was to have made a few practice runs ahead of time. Sheesh. And then there's "pride".
Abandoning the planned power and altitude parameters by improvising also disturbs me deeply.
Despite practice, there's always a way to screw up. Witness the Thuderbird crash at Mountain Home ten years ago. Those folks have one or two practice missions before the main show. And then the nugget uses a bad altimeter setting and doesn't realize that it looks different than practice! Says on radio, "don't think I'm gonna make it". No kidding, dude.
As far as the law goes, in the U.S., any of the slf folks could file a civil lawsuit re: negligence. No criminal actions possible.