It hit a "mountain of turbulence" and the tail "dug in"? What universe
did that happen in? Aft CG would exacerbate any tendency to a pitch
overshoot after a tab failure, but I can't see how any amount of
turbulence could produce a 10G pitchup without a coincidental tab
failure, unless the plane was totally unstable and Leeward was crazy to
be flying it. The pitch-up would reduce tab loads, not increase them.
Actually, the tab seems to have had two or three failures: possibly an
actuator first, then a hinge, and then the tab itself, mid-span. Maybe a
hinge was the first to go. NTSB metallurgists should be able to identify
pre-existing fatigue cracking, if there was any.

People are going to have axes to grind here, and blaming the pilot is
always a good strategy. Funny that the Hannah/Voodoo precedent is not
mentioned in this explanation. Another turbulence-mountain?

Peter Garrison,

Guys,
Jimmy didn't hit turbulence (turbulence upset is a subject in it's own right).
He was a considerable distance behind Strega and Voodoo and was already
around Rare Bear when the failure occurred. Most likely the elevator trim
tab actuator or a linkage failed and allowed the tab to flutter. At that
point the accident was a done deal. As the aircraft went directly overhead
us, inverted, it had a pitch oscillation that indicated possibly more damage
than just a tab. I suspect it is possible the flutter also broke the torque
tube between the two sides of the elevator. And the indication that he
stalled is totally wrong. After pitch up, the aircraft entered a slow nose
up right roll that carried him directly over us and continued until impact.
When he went over us at the top of the roll, he was not slow, the engine was
running race power and it was moving fast.

The whole situation is a lesson to all who fly fast..... no play in any
surface, strong linkages, good actuators, and balance your surfaces! With
that said, aircraft have still been lost to flutter even when all due
precaution is taken, so at this point, blame cannot be pointed other than
something broke....

On the subject of turbulence upset.... Ask anyone who flies a small airplane
like a P-51 or our Yak what it is like to be following a couple of Sea
Fury's or a  F7F Tiger Cat about wake turbulence...... Our Yak saw 6+ g's
this year due to wake, and I know Sherman saw much more than that in
ChekMate a few years back. Neither of these events were induced by the
pilots......
Larry