Autogyro CALIDUS N595X

Summary

On 4 February 2015 at about 19:00 local time, a Autogyro CALIDUS registered N595X was involved in an accident near Crozet, Virginia, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 February 2015 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Crozet, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Polo Field (PVT)

Coordinates

38.0694, -78.7006

Aircraft

Autogyro CALIDUS

Registration

N595X

Category

Gyrocraft

Year built

2014

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Crozet → Waynesboro

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15CA121

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper control inputs which resulted in a loss of control and rollover during the takeoff roll.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After departing from the airport where the pilot kept the gyroplane, he flew to his family farm and landed without incident on a 1,500-foot-long grass polo field. Later on, during an attempted takeoff from the same field, when the gyroplane was traveling at 25 to 30 knots and was about 150 feet into the takeoff roll, the gyroplane rose to a balanced position on its main wheels, but then began to bounce up and down violently. The pilot then lost control of the gyroplane and it rolled over on its left side about 300 feet into the takeoff roll. The pilot advised that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the gyroplane. He further advised that it was "pilot error" and that he had "over advanced" the blades by pushing the control stick too far forward and that the blades were not yet at speed (too low a rotor rpm) when he did it. The pilot was not injured, but the gyroplane incurred damage to the rotor blades, the pusher propeller, the horizontal stabilizer, the vertical stabilizer, the rudder, the engine cowling, and the wheel pants.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.