I haven't read the whole thread, so forgive me if I am saying something already mentioned.
If this pilot was an experienced display pilot, and he missed the entry gate and the top gate, and skewed off the display line, and having missed both gates, did not take evasive action, then he must have become mentally incapacitated in some way? By which I mean befuddled or confused rather than becoming fully unconscious.
Or did his instrumentation tell him he had hit both gates at correct height and speed?
I am not trying to exonerate him, but why else would he have continued the loop attempt?