There seems to be a sense that consciousness is a binary switch.
Unconscious/Conscious, On/Off. Too many "Man from U.N.C.L.E" and
"Mission Impossible" reruns. See 'epileptic seizures' elsewhere in this
thread.

Despite all the post event analysis by the pilot, perhaps we should
think of him *reacting* to events while in a mental fog. He reacted the
best he could to what he was experiencing and with his brain doing the
best it could.

Jose wrote:
Once the pilot had recovered, the =emergency= was over. It was still a
crisis situation, but time was no longer of the essence. One should
consider all available options, including looking out the window before
pulling the chute if there's time to do so (which there was).