- Date
- August 9, 2018, 11:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Spanish Fork, UT
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N557ATAirgyro Tercel
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Abrupt maneuver
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 18, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180809010519A
- Case key
- 98052
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 student pilot’s failure to maintain pitch and yaw control during takeoff.
Findings · 3
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 solo student pilot of the gyroplane reported that, during takeoff, he pulled the stick back and advanced the throttle to full. He accelerated and noticed "there was no tendency for the nose to rise," so he applied back pressure, and the gyroplane immediately turned left, rolled onto its side, and skidded off the runway to the left. The gyroplane sustained substantial damage to the main rotor, fuselage, and empennage. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the gyroplane that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor provided a video of the student pilot's accident takeoff. The video showed the gyroplane accelerating down the runway, rapidly pitching up, and immediately rotating to the left before impacting the runway.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot of the gyroplane reported that, during takeoff, he pulled the stick back and advanced the throttle to full. He accelerated and noticed "there was no tendency for the nose to rise", so he applied back pressure and the gyroplane immediately turned left, rolled onto its side, and skidded off the runway to the left. The gyroplane sustained substantial damage to the main rotor, fuselage, and empennage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the gyroplane that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor provided a video of the student pilot's accident takeoff. The video showed the gyroplane accelerating down the runway, rapidly pitching up, and immediately rotating to the left before impacting the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N557AT
- Reported as
- Airgyro Tercel
- Category
- Gyroplane
- Serial number
- T&S F26817S
- Built
- 2017
- Airframe hours
- 189
- Engine
- Rotax 912, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 21, 2018
- Departed
- SPK · Spanish Fork, UT
- Destination
- SPK · Spanish Fork, UT
- Airport
- SPK · Spanish Fork Arpt Springville-, runway 30, 6,500 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- None
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 27 total · 10 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 2.5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KPVU, 5 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 31, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 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.