It did bounce back and hit the tail - it is clearly visible in the video. Poor chaps. I just hope they did not realize what happened and that they went quickly.

Back then and particularly during these dramatic years a basic engineering approach was still a lot of trial and error and the cost in human life was accepted. I cannot remember how many people died on the launch site when they did trials on the V2 rocket but it was a lot.

Also few know that 3 astronauts died when trying out the Appollo capsule.