Desert185 I am not making a statement of fact regarding this persons age having been the factor in his death, I am merely saying that surface level inverted ribbon pick ups leave little room for error and from what I have read on this accident there was a wind factor during that performance and it was his second attempt at the pick up.
Therefore had there been the same height restriction at that air show as we had in Europe the accident would not have happened.
Another interesting issue regarding the 200 foot limit for low level demonstrations was the crowd could actually see the demonstration, conversely when the airplane is only a few feet above the runway a lot of the people cant even see it.
My personal opinion is really not all that radical, I believe that flying demonstrations can be performed with accuracy and skill at a level that gives some room for error.
Surface demonstrations leave little room for error.