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Yeah that's what I figured, but the risks of accelerating and doing the speed it was doing that close to the ground don't really seem worth it (at the risk of sounding boring, it was a cool stunt).
Cargo had been dropped off and this was the empty run back apparently. Not sure that climb would be possible with any real weight on board even with a comparatively overpowered MD80!
Fox
The slow climb is trading altitude for airspeed. By climbing slowly, the aircraft is accelerating quickly, allowing the pilot to pull back on the stick and climb like he did (doing the reverse trade).
One of the comments in the video said that the airlines boss was on board, so it could have been approved - if it was a regular flight though, I hope that any cargo was securely strapped down!