ll rocker arms moved and all cylinders had compression. The engine's number three cylinder's compression was very weak, until oil was poured into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. All of the ignition leads were cut, and both magnetos produced spark on all of the ignition leads.
Two witnesses gave statement to the IIC. Both witnesses reported that they heard a loud bang, and then looked up to see an airplane spinning toward the ground. One witness reported that he was wearing ear muffs at the time, and even with the ear muffs on he heard the bang. One witness reported that the right wing was folded, during the descent to the ground, and that he heard many engine power changes before the accident. The other witness reported that he could see definite fuselage distortion, as the airplane was descending to the ground.
A review of the pilot's logbook indicated that eight days previous to the accident the pilot had flown a Waco airplane in Hawaii. The logbook entry for that flight indicated that the pilot had completed many different types of aerobatic maneuvers on that flight. The accident flight appeared to be the pilots first flight following the flight in Hawaii.