your instructor was at fault,i did so many fly by's and touch and go's until i could see it in my sleep when i was learning.it is such an unsafe practice to let a student do anything but controlled takeoffs and landings especially with other people at the field like i assume there was.some people just have a natural knack for learning to fly some instructors take that for granted,but until you could prove you could do the basics i would never let you do any advanced maneuvers.i have been flying RC for almost 30 years and i still get confused at times when flying inverted especially when there are 3 other people flying at the same time.the push method works someone here explained that.also when flying an airplane toward you remember wing down on the stick on your ailerons.good luck with your lt40 they are a good trainer.i am sorry about your loss just use it as a learning experience.how many times can we reflect back and say if i just did this.......
most people that fly have had some sort of crash some worse than others,i have had my share.i love this hobby and getting out on weekends with my children and fellow flyer's'.when you are on a buddy box and get into a critical situation like you were the best advice i could give you is try to fly through it yourself,some situations cant be avoided no matter what advice you get.good luck and happy flying