N2612L involved in fatal ground accident.

Vance

Gyroplane CFI
Staff member
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
18,357
Location
Santa Maria, California
Aircraft
Givens Predator
Total Flight Time
2600+ in rotorcraft
According to the NTSB preliminary report Hoodoo AKA Allen Buffington’s SparrowHawk N2612L was involved in a fatal ground handling accident in Great Falls, Montana.

“Aircraft during engine run and not intended for flight, ran into a parked aircraft, the one person on board was fatally injured, Great Falls, Montana.”

My heart goes out to the survivors.

Please everyone; be careful, aircraft are dangerous even when they are on the ground.

Thank you, Vance
 
According to the NTSB preliminary report Hoodoo AKA Allen Buffington’s SparrowHawk N2612L was involved in a fatal ground handling accident in Great Falls, Montana.

“Aircraft during engine run and not intended for flight, ran into a parked aircraft, the one person on board was fatally injured, Great Falls, Montana.”

My heart goes out to the survivors.

Please everyone; be careful, aircraft are dangerous even when they are on the ground.

Thank you, Vance
That's sucks!
My heat go out to the family in this extreme time of grief!
Thanks for the good advice too Vance.
 
1 dead in ground collision at Great Falls airport





Associated Press - August 12, 2009 2:24 AM ET

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Officials say a 57-year-old man was killed when his gyroplane collided with a small airplane that was parked near an aviation company at the Great Falls International Airport.

Cascade County Deputy Coroner Bob Rosipal says the Great Falls man was testing a battery that was installed in his gyroplane, a small craft that resembles a helicopter. The deputy coroner says witnesses told him the aircraft sounded like it was at "full throttle" when it wheeled to the right and into the wing of an unoccupied parked airplane Tuesday evening. Rosipal says the gyroplane never left the ground.

The crash happened near Front Range Aviation. The man's name has not been released.


Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com
 
man I hate to hear this kind of stuff.

please when doing tests,make sure your gyro is chocked or tied down.

thoughts and prayers are with the family.
 
Very sad to hear. This incident is similar to the one involving my friend with his gyrobee. If you're just running the engine for testing please tie it to something.
 
Very sad indeed, we all need to make sure that when someone gets their first gyro prior to training that we let them know the importance of safety even before they begin to fly, you have to understand ground safety just as much as flight safety.
 
It is the little things that will fool you.

Last week a neighbour goes out to test the new starter on his farm tractor. He has worked all day installing it. Battery hooked up , reach up into the cab to hit the switch to see if it is going to work. Started instantly. Machine in gear. Funeral was last week. All he wanted to do was test the starter. He was 52.

Today , Allen Buffington of Great Falls Montana was trying to test a battery in his newly purchased gyrocopter, witnesses said the aircraft sounded like it was at "full throttle" when it wheeled to the right and into the wing of an unoccupied parked airplane. He just wanted to test the battery. He was 57.

I find it very sad to hear about Allen in Montana , I picture someone excited and looking forward to fly one day soon. Most likely he was focused on the battery install and was not even planning for a full throttle start .

Sometimes starters work and batteries work better than we expected and unintended consequences can fool us all. We were so careful up to then.

This is very sad news and I hope it never happens again. Today , all aviators hurt along with Allen Buffington's family and friends.

Arnie Madsen.
 
As I posted on another thread this seems to apply here. Being a new owner and unfamiliar with the throttle position on the Sparrowhawk. He was most likely unable to react quickly enough to feel around under the seat and locate the throttle lever.

If you are flying a Sparrowhawk or an RAF always check the throttle position before starting the engine.

Both these machines have the throttle lever low below the pilots leg. It can not be seen when the pilot is seated in the aircraft. I have had a few occasions where the pilot or passenger getting in moves the throttle forward accidentally.

The pilot needs to reach down and check it before starting the engine. It needs to be part of the pre-start check list on all gyros. Not just Sparrowhawks or RAF's.
 
The pilot needs to reach down and check it before starting the engine. It needs to be part of the pre-start check list on all gyros. Not just Sparrowhawks or RAF's.

I have an RAF and train with Ron Menzie with an RAF/Sparrowhawk conversion. The pre-start checklist is to set the throttle at idle before starting and to have your hand on the throttle when starting, in fact Ron tells his students to keep their hand on the throttle at all times.
 
Too Many

Too Many

Times this is happenning,,the throttle linkage can also be faulted and partially open.

May he rest in Peace..

Steve
 
very sad indeed!!!

My condolences to his family.
 
Throttles can get stuck

Throttles can get stuck

I have not seen this on too many newer engines but throttles can and do get stuck at wot. Carbon build up, weak return springs, carb linkages with incorrect geometry, cables pinched or twisted in their travel.

Old VW engines / solex carbs....would get stuck WOT if you popped the throttle open by hand or over adjusted the throttle cable when putting in a new cable or gas pedal parts.... The travel was such that it would spring past the apex and pull it back to idle but past wide open throttle. Be aware, put your eyes on the throttle on the engine, put your hand on the throttle to make sure its not stuck or wide open. Lube all parts with wd 40 or boshield frequently.

This is too sad.

J
 
I, too, am saddened to hear about this. The solution that's been given is obviously correct, to check throttle is in idle cut-off position before starting. For a pilot with a new gyro, that position may not be obvious. The addition of having chocks or tying down the gyro is also correct.

Let me add that many gyros can easily jump their chocks. This is especially true when the engine is running and the pilot is not in the pilot seat -- or if the engine starts and goes quickly to an advanced power setting. Several people have been injured or killed by gyros whose wheels were apparently properly chocked.

My solution, when working on my gyro and expecting to start the engine, is to tie the tail securely. In my hangar, my tail gets tied to a steel support beam. In the field, my tail gets tied to a piece of 18" rebar that I pound into the ground. So far all I have gotten is funny looks and dumb comments from other pilots, but not yet a runaway gyro.
 
Lessons from the tragedy

Lessons from the tragedy

I am pleased that some here on the forum are paying attention to this very expensive lesson.

My hanger mate, John Ready, chains his Acrosport to the hanger while he hand props her and has a release in the cockpit that he uses once he is secure and ready to taxi.

When I would start a SparrowHawk according to the procedures, I would make a mental note of what to do if the engine ran away because my hand was already on the key/ method of stopping the engine. It is easy to forget that the ignition switch is quicker and go for the throttle with the same hand, leaving behind the option of turning off the key quickly.

I have had run away engines on other vehicles and the noise is very intimidating and it is easy to freeze long enough to exacerbate the challenge.

When I start the Lycoming on the Predator, both the lean cut off and the magneto ground switches are close at hand. I practice shutting things down with my eye shut.

Only the left magneto is ungrounded but I am aware that it is easy to have problems with the P leads. Part of what I learn from the magneto check is that the P leads are working. If either magneto didn’t have an RPM drop I would not fly until I had located the source of the challenge and fixed it.

Any aircraft is a very unfamiliar place for someone with limited aviation experience. Brakes, throttle and steering are not where they are expected to be and work in an unfamiliar way. In my experience this unfamiliarity causes a delay in appropriate response.

I find benefit in writing emergency procedures for the Predator and practicing them when there is not an emergency. An example would be for engine runaway; Lean cut off full back, throttle full back, magneto switches forward, toe brakes equally on, look for the least expensive thing to hit.

Thank you, Vance
 
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