RE: the crash!
Inflight pilot error- 90%
Preflight pilot error -7%
Equipment failure- 1%
Radio "Hit" <1%
Inflight pilot error speaks for it's self. Panic is the major cause followed by poor judgment, which is usually closely followed by panic.
Preflight Pilot error includes uncharged batterys, loose screws, poor linkage setup, trying to fly with a motor that isn't running right, Trying to fly with servos twitching, Inproper repairs after a crash, Not repairing after a crash. bubble gum and duct tape repairs.
Equipment failure is like a servo jaming, receiver dying, dropping a valve on a four stoke engine, and other failures that could not be prevented by careful preflight inspections.
I've only seen one crash that "MAY" have been caused by radio interference. I lost a plane that was flying flat and level one second and turned into a lawn dart the next. A little later, in the pits, a guy was showing off his old computer radio and the neat feature that allowed him to switch between two frequencys. One of those frequencys was the channel I was flying. No proof that this is what happened, but a strong suspission that it was the cause.
I have crashed a number of times, and all but two were results of my panic when things werent going as I though they should. IE getting inverted on a landing approach and then pulling full up along with jaming the throttle full open. Makes a mess of things that does.
I've seen very experienced pilots freeze up and crash due to a sudden panic over somthing not being what they though it was.
I've caught guys shrugging off things that were sure to cause a crash. One guy shrugged off a loose motor and when I saw it, I had him shut down and we took a closer look to find the firewall was ripped out. Or seeing a guy going out to the pilots station with one aileron drooping. Some times we get just a bit to egear to fly.
Don