Haggenmacher BENSEN UNREG

Summary

On 3 September 2016 at about 20:00 local time, a Haggenmacher BENSEN registered UNREG was involved in an accident near Bryant, Arkansas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 September 2016 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Bryant, Arkansas, United States

Nearest airport

Saline County Regional (KSUZ)

Coordinates

34.5903, -92.4794

Aircraft

Haggenmacher BENSEN

Registration

UNREG

Category

Gyrocraft

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bryant → Bryant

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16LA347

1 person died.

The pilot’s loss of gyroplane control during an intentional high-speed pass, which resulted in the gyroplane porpoising and impacting terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to conduct the flight in an aircraft in which he had little experience flying despite knowing that air turbulence existed in and around the airport.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot, who did not hold a gyroplane rating, was conducting a local personal flight in the gyroplane. A witness, who was an experienced gyroplane pilot, reported seeing the pilot make a high-speed flyby over the airport. The witness added that, as the pilot turned the gyroplane onto the left base leg for the active runway, it started to "porpoise" and that the gyroplane then pitched up, nosed over, entered a "power push-over" attitude, summersaulted, and impacted terrain. The witness stated that the pilot had not flown for some time and lacked sufficient proficiency and skills to operate a gyroplane of this type and that the pilot was inexperienced and had low flight time in gyroplanes; no gyroplane flight time was recorded in the pilot's logbooks. He added that the pilot had a "macho attitude" and could not be told anything and that, although most of the gyroplane pilots had landed that day because of air turbulence in and around the airport vicinity and he had tried to talk the pilot into not flying because of the air turbulence, the pilot conducted the flight anyway. The pilot should not have chosen to fly in such conditions, especially given his lack of experience flying gyroplanes, and his decision to do so contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.