The initial information I was given was indeed malarkey. The plane was good to go, all the damage from the hanger collision years ago was repaired (I was told it was pretty minimal) and the engine
was new. The plane had already been flown several times after all the repairs were made so it was not a maiden flight. My uncle was allowed to go into the crash site with NTSB and they showed him
that the wings functioned as they should - an NTSB investigator pulled on cables to show him that they still functioned. Several witnesses said they didn't even hear the plane as it flew over their heads,
which means there was no engine power. It appears as if the engine died right after take off from unknown reasons (my uncle thinks water got into the fuel and stalled the engine). Scott banked
the aircraft to try to turn around but banking the aircraft caused it to drop altitude and he just wasn't high enough to recover. I'm also told those planes don't glide very well, but I have no idea.