Gyrocopter low g power push over crash (the cause of many gyrocopter fatal accidents)

This is a pretty sobering piece of film and its pretty obvious the pilot didn’t walk away. So if this is likely to upset you please don’t watch.


I’ve put the film up here because of its training value. There have been many gyroplane accidents that have likely been created with the same dynamics and I wanted to show the factors and scenario that has lead to this pilot getting into trouble.


You’ll notice that the aircraft arrives having dived for extra speed before pulling up – its actually not that aggressive a pull up – certainly not aerobatic – but it is a definite pull up. Next to highlight is that the control movements aren’t what I’d call abrupt or aggressive –you can see the pilot does give positive forward stick to level the aircraft - and its a combination of low g and full power that create the un-recoverable bunt.


I’ve left the sound as is so you can hear the motor flat out.


Lessons – Well firstly just don’t get involved with high energy manourvers that put you in that position. Next if you find your self in a steep climb then you have to keep the rotor loaded and the easiest way out close the throttle and hold the stick slightly aft – obviously in this case there was little hieight to play with and a roll and pull would have saved him but keep it simple and just close the throttle.


There is also a letter that Bensen wrote in 1978 which I’ll leave you to read as is. [This accident is from 1990 but it shows that this killer has been around for a long time] and also there was (in 1978 anyway) still some PR and mixed messages around what causes these accidents. We have terms like pilot induced oscillation (PIO), Power Push Over (PPO) now Rapid Pullup-pushover (RPP)!


Anyway watch and stay safe. Don’t let this be you.

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