Two pictures showing the moment of contact and the tailless T6 of Chris Rushing in a vertical decent. Not for the faint hearted. I have seen a couple of forums mention Nick Macy may have had a medical issue but this is likely pure speculation. RIP.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b5301bf5b2.png
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c527ef6059.png

Pure speculation: Based on the audio it sounds like Chris called out midfield downwind earlier than Nick Chris probably flew a wider pattern than Nick. Nick may have been looking to his left for Chris, when in actuality Chris was approaching from the right. My guess is they didn’t see each other until it was too late.

NTSB has released a preliminary report indicating pilot confusion as a preliminary cause of the mid air

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...tsb-rcna120014