- Date
- September 25, 1987, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fraser, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N2469Willi/Bensen B-8M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 10, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870925082169A
- Case key
- 13549
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
Deterioration of the internal surface of the fuel tank which led to blockage of the fuel flow and subsequent fuel starvation of the engine.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
As the student pilot was taking off in his experimental home built gyroplane, the engine lost power, shortly after lift-off. Subsequently, the gyroplane was damaged during an emergency landing. An exam of the fuel system revealed that tank sealer had deteriorated on the inside of the seat tank & had dropped in the fuel. Subsequently, a check valve for a rubber hand bulb (used to prime the fuel pumps) had become stuck. This resulted in blockage of fuel to the engine.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2469
- Reported as
- Willi/Bensen B-8M
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 86
- Airframe hours
- 65
- Engine
- McCulloch O-100, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Donald E. Willi
- Registered owner
- Donald E Willi
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · August 7, 1987 · 29 hours before
- Airport
- D13 · Mckinley Fraser, runway 27, 2,910 × 50 ft, macadam
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 75 total · 75 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MTC, 8 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.