Do you have a better resolution video you are using that shows the elevator position during the roll and after lift-off? I couldn't tell with the ones I've seen. It's likely the NTSB will analyze the videos hard and determine the control deflections for the flight performance if other methods don't point to the reason. In the reversed controls situation (whether trim or elevator), it's likely the stick would be put full forward and kept there during pretty much the entirety of the situation, due to the effect of the aircraft coming off the ground. Similar to the situations where an aircraft stalls close to the ground and the pilot pulls the yoke back to "avoid the ground" and just locks it full aft until hitting the ground. Hard to expect a human to do any different. Did you see a better video than what has been posted?

The post-crash inset zoom image in the video seems to show the elevator neutral.

If you pause the video as the plane yaws toward the camera you can see what appears to be a knife-edge view of the h.stab and elevator... looks neutral there too.

I got to meet Snort when I was a wet behind the ear Private pilot at OSH '07. As I was about to be a Midshipman he spared a couple of minutes to to tell me "Compartmentalization will keep you alive and sane." It didn't quite get it at the time but 10 years in the Navy, a wife, 3 kids, and a whole lot of **** later, it is the best advice I have ever gotten. He will be missed.

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/a...ort/103534/pdf


https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?Project...519TPBXNkbqUg4

NTSB says probable cause was gust lock.

A full control check should have caught it, but it sounds like the lock allows enough rudder to taxi.

Blancolirio summary...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LY4dngI17c

The control lock allows minimal rudder movement. As you say, a control check would have discovered a lock. Also, the locking mechanism is quite visible, and locks the stick as well. That airframe can be taxied with minimal rudder input, by using brakes.

On the L-19 , the predecessor, taxiing requires a lot of brake inputs, due to small rudder size and a heavy tail.

Hard for me to believe an experienced tail wheel pilot would overlook the control lock skip the control check. Incapacitation seems more likely.

Some years ago I was doing a bunch of quick turns in a foreign aircraft, which utilizes a control lock just after landing; big control surfaces are subject to damage in gusting conditions; the control lock stays engaged while hot loading the airplane, then is disengaged on the runway or just before. On the 9th or so load of the day, I pushed the power up with the control lock engaged. Someone was killed in the same type aircraft shortly before that, doing the same thing. A day later, I watched a pilot reject his takeoff, and though he didn't admit it, I knew exactly what happened. Same thing.

Incapacitation? Maybe. I doubt it.

I make a habit of stirring the stick several times before every takeoff, and never the less, managed to taxi onto a runway with the controls locked. I had years of experience in type. It happens.

The pilot's radio transmissions indicate that he was alert when he was cleared and also a few seconds into the sequence. The controls surfaces are visible in the video and appear locked. The NTSB concluded that he could have completed the short taxi with the lock engaged. They also concluded the impact damage to the lock indicated that it was not stowed. The guy was a great pilot, he was also on the older side too.

And the ghouls live on.