- Date
- August 7, 1993, 19:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Okeechobee, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N44162Love, Sanford W. Dominator
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930807028149A
- Case key
- 37380
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 failure of the pilot in command to maintain rotor speed while reversing direction.
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 he was flying northbound at 200 to 300 feet, at 50 mph with a 25 to 30 knot southeasterly wind. This was 5 to 10 knots slower than his normal cruise speed. He made a turn to the northwest which placed the gyrocopter downwind. As he completed the turn the gyrocopter began to descend rapidly. Before recovery could be made the main rotor contacted a palm tree and the gyrocopter impacted the ground. The gyrocopter then rolled on to the right side and came to rest. Rotor RPM was not maintained during the turn which resulted in the rapid descent.
Factual narrative
On August 7, 1993, at 1930 eastern daylight time, a Sanford W. Love Dominator gyrocopter, N44162, registered to Sanford W. Love, crashed while cruising near Lake Okeechobee, Okeechobee, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91, personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the private rated pilot was not injured. The flight originated at Okeechobee, Florida on August 7, 1993, at 1900.
The pilot stated he was in cruise flight at 200 TO 300 feet, flying around Lake Okeechobee in formation with another gyrocopter. He was flying at 50 MPH, a speed about 5 to 10 knots slower than his normal cruise speed, to maintain formation. They elected to reverse course and as he turned downwind the gyrocopter "started falling out of sky." The wind was from the southeast at 25 to 30 knots. The gyrocopter descended rapidly and before he could recover the main rotor impacted a palm tree and the gyrocopter impacted the ground. The gyrocopter then rolled on to the right side and came to rest.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44162
- Reported as
- Love, Sanford W. Dominator
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 427427
- Airframe hours
- 11
- Engine
- Rotax 503, 52 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Love, Sanford W.
- Registered owner
- Love, Sanford W.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 2000 · 11 hours before
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 200 total · 11 in this make and model · 134 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI, 52 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.