Date:	Saturday 16 September 2023
Time:	15:05
Type:	RAF 2000 GTX-SE
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	G-CDJN
MSN:	PFA G/13-1363
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Great Heck, near Selby, North Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Great Heck, near Selby, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
AAIB investigation to RAF 2000 GTX-SE, G-CDJN: Written off (damaged beyond repair) is a forced landing into a canal after take off, Great Heck, near Selby, North Yorkshire, 15 September 2023. The incident was the subject of an AAIB Investigation, and the following is the summary from the AAIB Report:

Synopsis
Shortly after take off, the gyrocopter lost performance and, from a low height, started to descend. The pilot manoeuvred away from a line of trees and conducted a forced landing in a nearby canal. The pilot considers that distraction had led him to leave the rotor brake applied and was the cause of the reduction in performance.

History of the flight
The pilot positioned his gyrocopter to take off towards the south from Great Heck Airstrip. The pilot was experienced on type, so he got in, started the engine and completed the checklists from memory. Whilst pre-rotating the rotor, he realised he had forgotten his pen and sun cap. He shut down the engine, applied the rotor brake, and exited the gyrocopter to get them.

When he re-entered the gyrocopter, he restarted the engine and later remarked that it took "an unusually long time" to pre-rotate the rotor to take off rpm, but he did not think about it further at the time. He took off and the gyrocopter initially climbed away, before starting to descend as it flew towards a canal which ran perpendicular to the end of the runway.

The pilot reported being startled by the descent and, as he could not fly over a line of trees ahead of him and there was a railway line to his left, he turned right to fly into wind along the canal. The canal banks were too narrow to land on without striking foliage, so the pilot decided to ditch in the canal. The main rotor struck the canal bank and detached during the ditching. The aircraft sank but the pilot escaped via the passenger door as the pilot’s door was wedged against the canal bank."

Damage Sustained to airframe:
Per the AAIB Report "Rotor blades detached and aircraft damaged through water immersion". The damage sustained was presumably severe enough to warrant that G-CDJN was "damaged beyond repair", as the registration was cancelled (with the airframe being de-registered) on 9 April 2024 as "Destroyed"

1. AAIB Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66154133c4c84d6602346a2d/RAF_2000_GTX-SE_G-CDJN_04-24.pdf
2. https://www.northyorksfire.gov.uk/incident/2023-09-16-incident-summary-saturday-16th-september-day-shift/
3. https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/23794200.crews-called-helicopter-crash-great-heck-near-selby/
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-66842861
5. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-66852459
6. https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/23794200.crews-called-helicopter-crash-great-heck-near-selby/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Heck

Built 2005: first UK registered from new as G-CDJN on 11 March 2005. Sold on to its 2nd UK registered owner on 3 July 2020. Had accumulated a total of 458 flying hours on the airframe as at 1 November 2022. The damage sustained to G-CDJN at Great Heck on was presumably severe enough to warrant that G-CDJN was \"damaged beyond repair\", as the registration was cancelled (with the airframe being de-registered) on 9 April 2024 as \"Destroyed\"

G-CDJN Rotary Air Force RAF 2000GTX-SE at Enstone, Oxfordshire (EGTN) 25 August 2017

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Sep-2023 16:20	Aerossurance	Updated
06-Aug-2024 05:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative, Category, ]
06-Aug-2024 05:46	ASN	Updated [Accident report, ]