wow im no ghoul lol but i too was instantly frustrated by the clips that stopped recording, only because i could not see the extent of the damage to BBD.
After watching that last vid with the slow motion I have to say That might have been the most level headed bit of piloting i have seen in a while.
Stern or the other heavy iron pilots can correct me if im wrong here as I have no experience in these types of aircraft but looks to me like A second after the collision he jetted his canopy in preparation for what he may have to do (very quick thinking), and then spent several more seconds trying to get the nose up and as far as i could tell it never responded to what ever inputs he was giving it (possibly the control cables were cut as previously discussed) and then made yet another split second decision to get the H. E. double hockey sticks out of there.
It seemed like while she still had a bit of up attitude left in her he was still working the controls trying to get a response but then when she started to go nose down and she still wasn't responding he made the call to bail.
I guess the investigation will show what it shows but that's what my untrained saw in that last video anyway
WoW

i bet his first Beer that night never tasted so good
Cheers and thanks for that last video whom ever made it and posted it