- Date
- April 10, 1996, 17:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Okeechobee, FL
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7047JSnowbird 636D4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 22, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960410006739A
- Case key
- 38003
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 main rotor control connecting rod, which rendered the control stick unusable and led to a loss of control.
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 had been experiencing vibrations in the gyroplane. The passenger/mechanic went with the pilot on this flight to help determine the cause of the vibration. At a cruise altitude of about 900 feet above the ground, the gyroplane was observed in a vertical descent until it impacted the ground. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the main rotor control connecting rod was broken at the rotor gear. Further examination revealed that the rear roll/pitch anchor point bolt for the control stick had worked loose and rendered the control stick unusable.
Factual narrative
On April 10, 1996, about 1715 eastern daylight time, a Snowbird gyroplane, N7047J, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, personal, local flight, and crashed in the vicinity of Okeechobee, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The gyroplane was destroyed, and the commercial pilot and one passenger were fatally injured.
The pilot had been experiencing vibrations in the gyroplane. The passenger, a mechanic, went with the pilot on this flight to help determine the cause of the vibration. The flight was at a cruise altitude of about 900 feet above the ground, when the gyroplane was observed in a vertical descent until it impacted the ground.
Examination of the wreckage revealed that the main rotor, control connecting rod, was broken at the rotor gear. Further examination revealed that the rear roll/pitch anchor point bolt, for the control stick, had worked loose, and rendered the control stick unusable.
An autopsy was performed on the pilot, on, April 11, 1996, at the Medical Examiner's Office, in Fort Pierce, Florida, by Dr. Frederick P. Hobin.
Toxicological tests were conducted at the Medical Examiner's Office, in Fort Pierce, Florida, and revealed "no drugs or alcohol."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7047J
- Reported as
- Snowbird 636D4
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 5101
- Engine
- Canadian Air CAM 100, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Leroy Hardee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- OBE
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
- 37
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 490 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI, 10 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.