Tragic crash of my prized Blue Phoenix high power rocket on its 4th flight, December 3, 2016. A failure of the Aerotech I500 disposable motor's built in thrust ring allowed the motor to shoot up into the airframe during flight, effectively melting the inside and gluing the separation point for the drogue chute so that it couldn't deploy at apogee. After plummeting like a 5 pound lawn dart from about 3600 ft to the main chute deployment altitude of 500 ft, the altimeter successfully deployed the main, which instantly stripped off and "zippered" the upper airframe with the high velocity pull of the shock cord, just a split second before crashing. What's amazing is that while the rocket is a total loss, the video camera, GPS tracker, and 1 of 2 altimeters survived to tell the tale.