See, that's some good thinking right there. Why can't everybody here have positive suggestions instead of always thinking the worst?
Brett
Well actually, initial crash site findings are being verified by the NTSB (Not Terribly Serious Board) and here are their preliminary findings:
Executive Summary
On January 19th, 2014, about 1358 mountain standard time (MST),1 a Vector 40 ARF, N756355, operating as Expert flight 7 experienced a rapid departure from tethered flight while climbing through flight level 90deg. The flight crew conducted an emergency descent and diverted to Whitehouse OLF Jacksonville Fl terra firma. Of the 1 crewmembers and 0 passengers on board, one crewmember and one launch assistant off-duty employee sustained no injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage; post-accident inspection revealed that the airframe was no longer flight worthy.
According to the flight crew and recorded data, the takeoff and initial climb were normal. At 1404:25, an unidentified sound was recorded on the pit area microphone from the videographer “Oh $#!”. The airplane crashed about 1404:26 on runway without further incident. About .01 seconds later, the captain announced that the airplane had crashed. The pilot deplaned via the pits.
Probable Cause
The NTSB determines that the probable cause of this accident was not directly attributable to pilot error, though he was a contributing factor pre-flight. NTSB involvement has rendered the possibility of airframe or engine rebuild impossible at this time since they will not be released until our investigation is complete, which is usually...well... a really long time. Crash site pictures show deep scratches in the piston from not running an air cleaner on sandy fields, combined with giving away compression with a suspect purported "hemi head" which crash site photos show to look more like just a reduction in squish band. It is our sad duty to inform you that our preliminary report finds the scratches and head modification might have led to being down on power at a critical moment in the pattern. The unsuspecting pilot then found out the age old lesson about flying inverted behind your head and out of visual range: Down is up, and up is expensive!
See Matt, I'm there for ya bud!
EricV