No idea. But at the point where he needs to climb to stay out of trouble, remaining VFR doesn’t matter. My husband said he just heard that the pilot had said he was climbing right before the crash, so obviously he realized he was getting in trouble.
I don’t think it matter much what he originally filed for, if it’s legal. What matters is when the situation changes, you adapt. Sounds like it was just too late. Things can happen very quickly.