What the heck was this guy doing IMC with as the NTS Board stated reliance on systems and inability to hand fly without the autopilot?
Like Jonzarno said, he screwed up. From the
report submitted by the pilot he had 1950 hours and an instrument rating, with good currency. He was also a flight instructor. It is simplistic just to say he was unable to hand fly in IMC. He may have been a hopeless pilot using the autopilot to cover his incompetence, and relying on the parachute to get him out of trouble. But it's unlikely that he got the qualifications he had without knowing how to fly reasonably.
For comparison, there was a Mooney accident where the pilot lost control flying a missed approach in IMC. Quite similar, but for the fact that the pilot died. The pilot was a CFI, CFII, and a current military B1B pilot who, according to the accident report, 'had received an “exceptionally qualified” rating on last military mission and instrument flight review'. Even really good pilots screw up sometimes.
As for the channel accident, the very inexperienced pilot effectively flew VFR into IMC over water - as hundreds of other pilots have done over the years. The evidence suggests that he was anything but gung-ho about setting off into poor weather, and if he'd just been relying on the automation he would have carried on relying on it and returned to VMC at the French coast. If he had used his parachute when he lost control, he might not have died.