First of all, they wore leather flight caps, not helmets. Despite the fact that they were basically a suicide squad, they still had to wear them to protect their ears and head from cold while at high altitudes and also to avoid going deaf when flying with their cockpits open. This was something they used to do to be able to see better when landing or taking off or looking for landmarks.
Also it helped to protect their head in case they had to do complex maneuvers to avoid getting shot out of the sky. So basically, while they were going to die, they wore helmets to make sure they didn't die before they were supposed to
You said "your life is about to end" but not the end. It's possible to be end of your life anywhere and anytime, but we always seek some security to safe our life. The same reason applicable for the Kamikaze Pilots, they fly at very high speed with open cockpits, to protect their head and specially eyes they wear lather caps or helmet.
First of all, they wore leather flight caps, not helmets. Despite the fact that they were basically a suicide squad, they still had to wear them to protect their ears and head from cold while at high altitudes and also to avoid going deaf when flying with their cockpits open. This was something they used to do to be able to see better when landing or taking off or looking for landmarks.
Also it helped to protect their head in case they had to do complex maneuvers to avoid getting shot out of the sky. So basically, while they were going to die, they wore helmets to make sure they didn't die before they were supposed to
You said "your life is about to end" but not the end. It's possible to be end of your life anywhere and anytime, but we always seek some security to safe our life. The same reason applicable for the Kamikaze Pilots, they fly at very high speed with open cockpits, to protect their head and specially eyes they wear lather caps or helmet.