Strikes me that he was behind the aeroplane from the moment there was air under the tyres: entering an aerobatic manoeuvre without remembering to raise the gear, and then a steep dive with inadequate height to pull out, and taking the aeroplane fairly heavily into pre-stall wing rock close to the ground as a result probably should have called it a day in the first 10 seconds of the flight.
Lucky? Very given his apparent determination to break the aeroplane.
G