It's pretty much a constant that if you're into this sort of stuff you have terrible taste in music. My guess is that the high levels of epinephrine damage that part of the their brain.
It looks like he got into ground effect and that's what saved his life. Basically, when you're within about one wingspan of the ground, you experience increased lift and decreased drag. This would also help explain why he lofted right out of the canyon afterward. He probably bounced off of a "cushion of air" at his lowest approach.