The F16 incident has some relevance as the final outcome was similar though thankfully without fatalities of course in that case.
KenV you make much of it not being a "missed gate", but setting the wrong gate during planning by nearly 1000ft - by not correctly factoring in the altitude of the airport - is a pretty basic mistake, and of course would look like a hugely missed gate to those spectating. Those knowing the move would expect the aircraft to climb ~60% higher than it did, so easy to understand the initial conclusion they jumped to. A big error that you could debate whether should it not have passed the "does this feel right/too early?" gut feeling for a pilot that had done the move before.
The F-16 incident does show however why conclusions can't be jumped to for this recent incident. There could be various issues to consider that are not yet apparent.
I do come back to margins however, and wonder whether they should be forced to be much higher for such "high energy pointing at the ground" type moves.
That Daily Mail flame out story is incredible. Are they really that daft? Are there no photographers (or anyone with an ounce of technical knowledge) working for the Mail that could say "er, hang on a minute guys....". It seems not!