"This pilot had 14,000 hours."
If he had 14,000hrs-or even a third of that, on Hunters/Fast Jets this observation would have some relevance.
He didn't, so it doesn't.
Furthermore, even if we accept (and I'm not sure I do) that the altimeter may have not been working correctly, a pilot more experienced in low-level work would have looked at the 500ft indicated and the less-than-200ft terrain clearance and known something was wrong. IMHO of course.