Always sad to hear things like this.

Stands whether a climber, ladder, fixed or wood all start to wear out, wear the safety equipment and check your gear annually and throughout the season. Many issues here in NC have been experienced due to people building stands into the trees. Great for the first year but many people forget the wood most of the time is not treated, the nails are regular nails that will start to shrink as they rust and it is just a recipe for a disaster. Not saying this is what happened to him but many people forget to op check their gear and assume all is good.

Got a guy in down the street who does rock climbing, he purchased one of those rockwall climbing safety tether/reel and loves it Lag bolted through his trees. It is adjusted enough that if his stand went out from under him or if he fell out he would be lowered to the ground at a slow pace.