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| Date: | Thursday 20 March 2025 |
| Time: | 13:02 |
| Type: |  AutoGyro Cavalon |
| Owner/operator: | Gyro-Ventures |
| Registration: | N157P |
| MSN: | RSUK-V00548 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near French Valley Airport (F70), Murrieta, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Chino Airport, CA (CNO/KCNO) |
| French Valley Airport, CA (F70) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The student pilot reported that she was on a solo cross-country flight and had entered the airport traffic pattern. While on the base leg, she slowed the gyroplane to follow an airplane that was established on final approach. She then turned final after the airplane had landed, however, the airplane did not exit the runway as she had anticipated. She slowed the gyroplane further and allowed a “slow vertical descent” for additional spacing from the airplane. The pilot then noticed that she had allowed the airspeed and altitude to decay. She attempted to recover by applying full throttle, however, the gyroplane turned right into a grass area and impacted terrain about 250 ft from the approach end of the runway. The rotor blades, fuselage, keel, and rudder were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: (the NTSB re-wrote the analysis text in this section, so we don't have a probable cause)
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://abc7.com/post/helicopter-crashes-french-valley-airport-murrieta-riverside-county/16058583/
https://patch.com/california/murrieta/helicopter-crashes-near-auld-road-french-valley-airport
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199898
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=157P
https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N157P/history/20250320/1919Z/KCNO/F70
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Media:
Helicopter crashes near French Valley Airport in Murrieta in Riverside County https://t.co/QRYESJjQ0o
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) March 20, 2025
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Mar-2025 21:28 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 21-Mar-2025 05:39 | vasilf | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, ] |
| 21-Mar-2025 05:45 | vasilf | Updated [Cn, ] |
| 21-Mar-2025 05:52 | vasilf | Updated [Embed code, ] |
| 21-Mar-2025 06:01 | vasilf | Updated [Operator, Embed code, ] |
| 21-Mar-2025 06:59 | vasilf | Updated [Registration, Source, ] |
| 21-Mar-2025 08:30 | vasilf | Updated [Embed code, ] |
| 21-Mar-2025 23:27 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 25-Mar-2025 13:08 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 01-Jun-2025 14:49 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Nature, Source, Narrative, Photo, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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