- Date
- December 16, 2025, 10:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Denver, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N529MWMark O Treidel American Ranger AR-1
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Denver FSDO
- FAA report
- 20251216019779A
- Case key
- 202193
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to attain rotor RPM and maintain proper rotor disc angle during takeoff which resulted in a rotor strike with the rudder.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated that it was a very windy day with winds above 20 mph and gusts to 30 mph when he attempted a takeoff in his gyroplane. He stated that during the takeoff roll with the pre-rotor engaged to 130 to140 RPM, he gently eased back on the cyclic and a gust of wind caught the rotors. He felt the rotor flap and then a bump. He immediately arrested the rotor flap and then continued the takeoff roll. When the gyroplane became airborne, he realized there was less rudder authority and returned to land at the departure airport without further incident. After landing, the pilot noticed that rudder had been damaged due to a rotor strike, which likely occurred when the rotor flapped during takeoff, resulting in substantial damage to the rudder. The pilot stated that he should have had the rotors pre-rotated to 160 RPM or greater prior to pulling back on the cyclic, and there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the gyroplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N529MW
- Reported as
- Mark O Treidel American Ranger AR-1
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 0014
- Built
- 2017
- Airframe hours
- 389
- Engine
- Rotax 914, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 2, 2025
- Airport
- CFO · Colorado Air and Space Port Airport, runway 26, 8,002 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 78
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Last flight review
- March 2, 2025
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,000 total · 1,200 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- CFO
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.