Concours77
Sorry about the loss of your flight instructor in what seems to be a needless accident.
One could say he was fearless.
As one who has operated in the aircraft carrier environment, I can guarantee you that he was not fearless. Instead, it is more likely that many situations that would frighten less experienced pilots were familiar to him and thus not particularly frightening to him.
But he was still a human, and humans make mistakes. They allow themselves to be influenced by others, they mis-perceive situations, and they even become complacent. One of these human failings likely caught up with him and caused his demise.
Regarding AF447, there is plentiful evidence of fear in Bonin starting with the unnecessary ham handed use of the flight controls, task saturation, audio channel saturation, probable tunnel vision, and gross violation of procedures. Bonin's "joke" could also be considered gallows humor in a person who knows he is beaten by a situation he does not understand.