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| Date: | Sunday 22 May 1983 |
| Time: | 18:10 |
| Type: |  Bensen B8M |
| Owner/operator: | private |
| Registration: | unreg. |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Herington, KS -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
THE BUILDER/PLT PURCHASED THE BASIC AIRFRAME & ROTOR KIT FROM BENSEN, BUT PURCHASED THE ENG FROM ANOTHER SOURCE. THE ENG WAS NOT MODIFIED IAW BENSEN INSTRUCTIONS. REPORTEDLY, THE PLT WAS ONLY GOING TO CONDUCT TAXI & GROUND RUNS WHEN HE STARTED AT APRX 1100 CDT. HOWEVER, AFTER A NUMBER OF TAXI & HI SPEED RUNS, THE GYROCOPTER WAS OBSERVED TO TAKEOFF AT APRX 1800 CDT. AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PLT TURNED TO A DOWNWIND, THEN A BASE LEG. A WITNESS REPORTED SEEING SOMETHING FALL FROM THE ACFT BEFORE IT DESCENDED FROM HIS VIEW. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT CRASHED APRX 1500 FT FROM THE APCH END OF THE RWY IN A 50 TO 55 DEG BANK. A 6 GAL FUEL CAN WAS FOUND APRX 90 FT FROM THE ACFT. THE CAN HAD BEEN ATTACHED WITH 2 ELASTIC SHOCK CORDS, WHICH WAS NOT IAW BENSEN INSTRUCTIONS. PAINT & SCRAPE MARKS ON THE ROTOR BLADES & THE FUEL CAN MATCHED ONE ANOTHER. THE PLT WAS NOT CERTIFICATED & NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND THAT HE HAD PREVIOUS FLT EXPERIENCE. THE WORD 'ULTRALIGHT' WAS FOUND PAINTED ON THE MAST OF THE GYROCOPTER. CAUSE:
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001214X43090
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
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