A pilot who may have been trying to do an in-flight visual inspection of his Bearhawk Patrol's control surfaces was killed in the process and also doomed the safety pilot he had with him. The NTSB's final report into the crash of the homebuilt on Oct. 29, 2022, in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, attributes the accident to "the pilot's decision to unlatch his seatbelt during flight, which allowed him to exit the airplane and impact the tail, resulting in a loss of control and impact with terrain." The report says when the pilot hit the tail, the aircraft became uncontrollable and the pilot-rated passenger didn't have a chance.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/pilot-departs-aircraft-damages-tail-in-fatal-crash