What happened
On April 8, 2025, at approximately 14:59 CDT, a Cassutt III M, registration N5RR, was involved in an accident near Haskell, Oklahoma. The flight was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight.
According to a witness, the pilot had completed several laps around the airport traffic pattern. During the final lap, the pilot flew the length of the runway at approximately 100 feet above the ground before the aircraft pitched nose up steeply off the end of the runway. The aircraft climbed, leveled off, and turned through the crosswind to the downwind leg, where it regained speed. While on the downwind leg, the aircraft entered an aileron roll. While inverted, the nose dipped toward the ground, causing a loss of altitude. Although the pilot appeared to level the wings and attempt to pull out of the shallow dive, the aircraft did not have sufficient altitude to recover.
The aircraft impacted the ground at a shallow angle, subsequently bouncing and tumbling, which caused several components to separate from the airframe. The accident resulted in 1 fatality.
Witnesses noted that the engine was operating at full power during the event and heard no evidence of engine failure. The witness also noted that while the pilot had performed the initial maneuver previously, they had not observed the pilot performing aerobatic maneuvers in the past.