During the second flight of the day (using a longer towline intended to alleviate the turbulence), the test pilot encountered severe buffeting problems and he had to cast off at low altitude. The flight ended catastrophically when Brooke-Smith attempted to side-slip out of the wake and struck the ground "nose-down" at 90 mph, injuring himself seriously and heavily damaging the aircraft.
During the second flight of the day (utilizing a longer towline to mitigate turbulence), the test pilot encountered extreme turbulence issues and was forced to eject at low altitude. The flight ended catastrophically when Brooke-Smith attempted to execute a side-slip maneuver out of the aircraft's wake and crashed "nose-down" at 90 mph, resulting in serious injuries and significant damage to the plane.