What a junk method of joining wing sections! I CANNOT believe that the manufacture would actually think that would be sufficient! Man, sorry for your buddies loss. As stated previously, If I were new to the hobby and didn't know any better, I would have done the same thing also following the Mfg's instructions. I sure hope that Hangar 9 replaces it. This is a sore way to get started into R/C. I hate to see this happen to a new R/Cer. Best of luck to you and your friend.