I learned to fly initially in Eastern WA, which is largely, flat, open and agricultural. There, we were encouraged in 'engine-out' training to look for good fields and avoid roads, both to avoid the risk of unseen power lines and to avoid danger to vehicles and people on the ground.
It only took a few flights over on the Western side of the state, with both more population, and hilly ground covered in douglas firs, to realize that much of my training in Eastern WA was just fantasy. Here, you'd be lucky to find a field, and roads, power lines or no, seem a lot more attractive as an option.
But you have none of these choices at night. You can't see much of anything you are descending into, and the humanitarian thing to do is to avoid the only things you can see... places with lights. There's no good outcome at night when the engine quits.
I listened to the 911 audio, just listening to the audio, it was bad advice from the 911 operator to try to keep him on the line once the plane started going under. They should have told him to start swimming. He had no other choice. It sounds like he was strugging to stay afloat while talking to the 911 OP once the plane went under.
Kid thought his plane would stay afloat another 3 minutes, even at that point i was already getting the feeling he had much less than that. Yikes
Realistically, situation is worse than he thought and as much as we hope he would still be alive.... I would say it would have been a miracle for him to survive.