Fatal - N419LB Cavalon OK

So if a used AR-1 shows up for sale in Oklahoma make sure you check the rotor end caps before you buy it. :) Hitting the hanger with rotor spinning will mess other stuff up too as we all know…
 
Update - the NTSB Preliminary gives us some facts -
 
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Update - the NTSB Preliminary gives us some facts - First of all the gyrocopter involved is now listed as N419LB ( initially reported as N419LM ) - the FAA registers shows N419LB as "expired - sale reported" from Texas.

The Preliminary report ref CEN22FA016 states,

"A witness reported that he observed the gyroplane on a 300-ft, private, upsloping field. The pilot added full power to the engine and the gyroplane started its takeoff roll toward the north. However, it never lifted off of the ground and impacted a barbed wire fence at the end of the field. The pilot was ejected from the gyroplane, and the gyroplane came to rest upright. The gyroplane sustained substantial damage to the rotor assembly and vertical stabilizer. The nearest weather reporting station was about 7 miles northwest of the accident site. At the time of the accident, wind was reported from 140° at 14 gusting to 18 knots.""


Seems a very short strip ( 300ft -approx 100m ) - was the wind from almost behind.
The "upsloping field" part is interesting. Curious about the direction of the takeoff roll.
 
The Lat/Long on the NTSB Preliminary suggests this
 

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That is so sad. Some on this forum may recall an owner of a McCulloch J2 that had a known bad main rotor bearing, was told not to fly, was given a new main rotor bearing which he put the the J2s storage compartment and then took of on a flight...... bearing failed J2 crashed, he died.
Can't fix stupid.
I believe it killed him and his wife if my memory serves me correctly. it was back in 1989
 
I had a vague recollection of seeing this Cavalon at AirVenture so I checked facebook and there is was.
 

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I can't imagine what this guy was thinking. Attempting to take off in an unregistered gyro he had just purchased, in only 100m, on a grass field, with a quartering tailwind?? And possibly uphill to boot? Did he have any training at all?? 😳
 
..and apparently with seatbelt not fastened....

It would be nice if gyro sellers would decline to sell to such folk. You can spot the really bad ones, at least.
 
..and apparently with seatbelt not fastened....
Ya, that's just the cherry on top of the whole mess.
I bet, despite everything, he would have survived a ground roll into a wire fence in an enclosed gyro, if he'd at least had his seatbelt on...
 
I had a vague recollection of seeing this Cavalon at AirVenture so I checked facebook and there is was.
Vance, that's kind of a scary looking photo. Is that a takeoff or a landing?? Whose FB page was that on?
 
I've no idea
 
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Wait, what? That was never going to be a successful takeoff; forget medical issues. And lack of restraints is probably what actually killed him.
All the info so far points to him having no training, and really, really bad judgement.
 
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Vance, that's kind of a scary looking photo. Is that a takeoff or a landing?? Whose FB page was that on?
I have no information on the photo. When I saw her she was in the ultralight area of AirVenture with a cover over her.
This is not my picture either.
 

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In my experience it is not unusual for someone to imagine that a gyroplane is a short takeoff and landing aircraft.

In my experience it is not unusual for someone to imagine that wind direction is not an important part of the takeoff decision.

I have made some poor aviation decisions myself.

I am often surprised by the lack of condemnation by my peers.

I have been chastised many times for wanting a quarter mile of takeoff distance to clear a fifty foot obstacle despite what the POH says.

Caution is learned and it is often not easy or intuitive.
 
I've no idea what happened - surprised no one's yet mentioned a medical incapacitation
I feel the takeoff decision was likely made before the takeoff was commenced.

Uphill with a tail wind and a fence in three hundred feet reads like poor aviation decision making to me rather than a medical issue.
 
It would be an interesting medical ailment that unlatches one's seatbelt. I surmise that he was permanently incapacitated as a direct consequence of a mental defect, to wit, aviation ignorance, complicated by an acute case of hubris.


Critical reactions aside, my thoughts are with the family.
 
To quote a fellow gyro member. Gyros don't kill people. People kill Gyros.

Still a sad outcome. I feel for the families.
 
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