accidents that injured anyone not onboard

jucie

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2003
Messages
252
Location
São Paulo - Brazil
Hognose:
I cannot recall any gyroplane accident that injured anyone who was not onboard the gyroplane, ever. Although there may have been a rotor blade strike, now that I think of it, 15 or 20 years ago.

I am not willing to win the "sad story award", but the other day a friend of mine told a story I want to share with you.

Some 20 years ago, at Peruibe beach (Sao Paulo - Brazil), there were a group of new gyronauts. This story was told to me by one of that guys. Every weekend they meet together to fly. The wife of a pilot had the habit to relax over his car on a hill nearby, reading magazines while her husband keep flying around. One day he tried to make a surprise to her, passing very low, very near her, coming from behind. Result: Her head has been cuted off by the rotor blades.
 
Wow . . .tragic!
We had a pilot's hand in Texas hit by the prop when he was patting the blades on the wrong side of the gyro.
Heron
 
I have taken a pilot to the ER due to prop strick. same problem spining blades and lean foward.
chuck
 
My dopey uncle was hit on the forhead by one of me rotor blades,they were still tyed down on the rack on the ute and he walked into it.
 
Screw-In

I walk into my blades all the time. Ask Scott.

Screw-Out
 
Struck by Blades

Struck by Blades

NTSB Identification: FTW96LA161.

The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Public Inquiries
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, April 04, 1996 in CARTHAGE, TX
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/11/1996
Aircraft: Bensen GYROPLANE, registration: NONE
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Uninjured.​

The rotor blades of an unregistered gyroplane struck a bystander that was taking pictures of the gyroplane during the takeoff roll. According to the noncertificated pilot, the bystander had noticed his gyroplane, and expressed a great deal of interest, having worked on helicopters in the past. The pilot agreed to demonstrate the gyroplane and to perform a flight around his property to allow him to take pictures of it in flight. Before initiating a takeoff roll from his property, the pilot motioned to the bystander to move further to the right of the strip; the bystander acknowledged the signal and moved back. The pilot stated that he noticed that the bystander moved the camera up to his face and proceeded to take pictures as the gyroplane accelerated. As the gyroplane rolled past the bystander, the main rotor blade impacted the bystander's head, and the pilot felt a slight bump on the stick. The pilot then aborted the takeoff. The pilot stated that the bystander may have possibly lost perspective of the actual distance to the gyroplane as he viewed it through the camera's view finder.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

the pilot's inadequate coordination with the spectator, concerning the spectator's need to remain clear of the takeoff area, and the spectator's failure to remain clear of the takeoff area. A factor relating to the accident was: the spectator's distorted perception of distance, while viewing the aircraft through a camera view finder.
 
Well, it wasn't so many years ago as I thought.

Helo blade strikes happen about every other year somewhere in the Army and I have to presume to a lesser extent in the other services too. Same deal as this NTSB accident. It couldn't have a direct impact on insurance (the subject of the thread where I raised the issue) because this guy was unlicensed and presumably uninsured (and if his Bensen was really light, maybe just legal). However, this sort of thing DOES bring attention of underwriters on the gyro community and not in a favorable way.

The Brazilian fellow who hit his wife with his rotor blades -- man, that is just a sad situation.

So far it seems like every story of a gyro killing someone not aboard has been a blade strike. It takes a lot of energy to lift you and your machine into the air -- it'll have your head off quicker than Islam.

cheers

-=K=-
 
Kevin, I suspect you are right in that rotor blade strike injuries are not unusual.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ken Brock's incident many years ago when he landed and hopped out of his gyro to help Russ Jansen who had a airborne wire encounter at El Mirage. The report was that in his haste he hadn't stopped the rotor and took enough of a blow from the still rotating rotor that it severely damaged his helmet and put him in the hospital. Russ didn't survive.
 
I wasn't aware of that. It is very easy to forget a basic safety procedure in highly irregular circumstances, like rushing to help an injured friend. Basically as the emotional content of a situation goes up, our ability to exercise judgment goes down.

A rotor doesn't have to have a lot of speed still on it to kill you. Same-same prop. I'd also bet that there are more rotor and prop strikes to pax and ramp crew than to pilots, and more to pilots than to non-involved third parties.

I dunno of any mishap where a gyro hit something and injured persons on the ground, though. One could, if you were out strolling and it landed on you. Maybe nobody is that unlucky.

cheers

-=K=-
 
On a lighter note,it's not only humans who git hurt. :)
My tally so far,2 cows,1 bull,1 roo,numerous birds and hundreds of trees. ;)
 
In one of our championships here, a gyro pilot overcooked his slow approach under power in the spot landing contest. The resultant rotor strike and the ensuring obligatory roll over to the left caused injury to a spectator when he tripped over a dog in his enthusiasm to rush to help.
 
It's hard to blame the hardware for any of this. It's almost unbelievable how careless people can be around machinery.

Kelly Vanek told me once about an airshow scare one time, when a spectator started walking up to Jim's machine while the blades were spinning. The idiot had his little daughter on his shoulders. Fortunately, somebody grabbed him in time.
 
birdy said:
My dopey uncle was hit on the forhead by one of me rotor blades,they were still tyed down on the rack on the ute and he walked into it.

I do that all the time, Birdy.
I usually drape a towel over the end of the blade to keep me from running into it. With a short-masted Bensen, sometimes they're hard to see edge-on.

I think I still have the Rotordyne logo reverse-imprinted on my head somewhere :eek:
 
It's taken me about 5 years to learn to walk around the front of my ship and not scratch or poke my privates and bend the pitot tube. Getting the AAI conversion has also saved my shins from the old, lower horizontal stab. They were starting to look like raw hamburger meat.
 
Well gosh, Ken, that could happen to anyone. That's nothing!

I know one old guy who wouldn't even hook his trailer up anymore, because he kept hamburgering his shins on the tongue of the trailer when he got up to use the men's room while camping at night!
 
birdy said:
My tally so far,2 cows,1 bull,1 roo,numerous birds and hundreds of trees. ;)

Birdy and all,

In the States there is an Australian-themed restaurant chain, "Outback Steak House." (Man, I can hear the laughter all the way from Alice...) It sounds like Birdy has got his own version of Outback Steak House happening.

"Honey, I know you was planning to make your Vegetarian Surprise tonight but I just happened to miscalculate a few inches whilst mustering, and we have some really nice steaks..."

cheers

-=K=-
 
And Kevin, there would be a few "greens" as well from the tree clippings!!!!

Aussie Paul.
 
For you hunting-types, I made some perfectly sliced deer steaks after rotating the piper on takeoff. She must have just eaten too... the whole side of the fuselage was green. Guess we could have made a nice salad too...

(eeeeewwwww) :p
 
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