- Date
- March 20, 1982, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Minneola, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N25PHBenson B-8M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 20, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820320010289A
- Case key
- 71722
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
Witnesses heard an engine sputter and looked up to see the gyrocopter descending vertically into a nearby wooded area while the nose of the aircraft was pointed almost straight down. Investigation revealed that the pilot did not possess any aeronautical certificates or ratings and that he had acquired approximately 4 hours of flight time in gyrocopters at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N25PH
- Reported as
- Benson B-8M
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1931
- Engine
- Mcculloch O-100, 72 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Paul E. Homan
- Registered owner
- Paul E. Homan
- Departed
- Clermont, FL
- Destination
- Clermont, 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
- 50
- Medical
- Unknown
- Flight hours
- 4 total · 4 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Temperature
- 183 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ORL, 22 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.