COOPER MICHAEL C RV 8A — Advance, NC

What happened

The pilots, who co-owned the airplane, departed for a personal flight and, after completing one circuit around the airport traffic pattern, were performing a low-altitude, high-speed pass over the runway. About halfway down the runway length, the airplane entered a barrel roll to the left and, after passing through 180 degrees of roll, began a descent that continued to ground contact. Postaccident examination of the flight controls revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. Although the rear seat flight control stick was found separated and had not been properly secured in compliance with a service bulletin, it was damaged in a manner consistent with the impact and likely did not contribute to a loss of control. The pilots' decision to perform aerobatic maneuvers at low altitude significantly diminished their margin for error, and once the airplane began to descend while maneuvering, the pilots likely did not have adequate time to recover before impacting the ground.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.