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Good question. Setting your altimeter to read zero only gives you an AGL reading over terrain with the same elevation you set your altimeter. A Thunderbird performance takes place over many square miles of terrain with usually a wide variance of elevation. Some maneuvers begin and end several miles away from show center. There may be a couple thousand feet of elevation difference within that distance. So you are still faced with converting your "MSL" altitude to AGL altitude during the course of the performance. In other words, it wouldn't necessarily solve the problem encountered in this mishap. This guy was an extremely talanted, well practiced human who made a mistake in an environment with very tight tolerences. It's a crappy way to end a flying career, but at least he survived. Glad it wasn't me.