Because if it were an actual emergency, survival is your main priority, "great footage of it" isn't a priority at all.
And:
(1) GoPros are a lot cheaper than $500.
(2) GoPros are a lot cheaper than any flyable airplane.
Of course, I wouldn't fly in a plane with a pilot who had and used a selfie stick in flight, so my judgement clearly isn't up to that of YouTube Famous Stars.
(2) He (supposedly) couldn't save the plane, but taking the GoPro takes 5s.
> used a selfie stick in flight
Everyone keeps talking about selfie stick, it was just the normal leg attachment, not a "selfie stick": https://i.imgur.com/hOkcxOa.png
> "great footage of it" isn't a priority at all.
Where is this "Great footage"? He's literally just holding the camera by the leg attachment. Half the falling footage is just his feet or chest, and that's already the heavily trimmed version, which I assume he only kept the better part of the footage.
Again, to me it just seems like he grabbed whatever he could quickly and jumped out, which is a natural instinct.
And:
(1) GoPros are a lot cheaper than $500.
(2) GoPros are a lot cheaper than any flyable airplane.
Of course, I wouldn't fly in a plane with a pilot who had and used a selfie stick in flight, so my judgement clearly isn't up to that of YouTube Famous Stars.