- Date
- May 10, 2003, 09:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Punta Gorda, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N9DQMichael Allen Brown RAF 2000 GTX
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20030510015309A
- Case key
- 56967
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 maintain rotor speed during the takeoff which resulted in the gyrocopter descending and the main rotor impacting the ground, incurring damage.
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
The pilot stated that he was performing a normal crosswind takeoff on the grass, and shortly after liftoff he did not adequately control the main rotor speed, and allowed the gyrocopter to descend and its main rotor to hit the ground. He further stated that prior to the rotor hitting the ground there had been no mechanical failure or malfunction to the gyrocopter or any of its systems.
Factual narrative
On May 10, 2003, about 0930 eastern daylight time, a Michael Allen Brown RAF 2000 GTX gyrocopter, N9DQ, registered to and operated by a private individual as a Title 14 CFR part 91 personal flight, encountered blade flap during takeoff at Punta Gorda, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The private-rated pilot was not injured and the gyrocopter incurred substantial damage. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot stated that he was performing a normal crosswind takeoff on the grass, and shortly after liftoff he did not adequately control the main rotor speed, and allowed the gyrocopter to descend and its main rotor to hit the ground. He further stated that prior to the rotor hitting the ground there had been no mechanical failure or malfunction to the gyrocopter or any of its systems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9DQ
- Reported as
- Michael Allen Brown RAF 2000 GTX
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- H2-97-8-299
- Engine
- Subaru Flat 4, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Michael A. Brown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- PGD · Punta Gorda, FL
- Destination
- SEF · Sebring, FL
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 300 total · 0 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.