Aircraft and Flight Details
A Benson B-8M gyroplane, bearing no registration number, was destroyed when it impacted terrain about a quarter mile from Saline County Airport (SUZ) in Bryant, Arkansas. The accident occurred on September 3, 2016, at approximately 1500 central daylight time. The gyroplane was operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from SUZ moments before the accident.
Witness Account
An experienced gyroplane pilot who witnessed the accident reported that the accident pilot conducted a high-speed flyby heading south before turning east onto a left base leg for runway 2. The witness stated that the gyroplane began to "porpoise," then pitched up, nosed over, entered a "power push-over" attitude, summersaulted, and impacted the ground. The witness also noted that the pilot had not flown for some time, lacked proficiency and skills, was inexperienced and low-time, and held no gyroplane rating. According to the witness, most gyroplane pilots had landed due to air turbulence in the airport vicinity, and the witness attempted to dissuade the pilot from flying, but the pilot proceeded anyway.
Pilot Information
The 76-year-old pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating and a third-class airman medical certificate issued April 20, 2016, with restrictions requiring corrective lenses for near and distant vision. The certificate was not valid for any class after April 20, 2017. The pilot estimated a total flight time of 1,150 hours. FAA records did not indicate a gyroplane rating for the pilot.
Weather and Airport
A METAR from Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT), 15 miles northeast of SUZ, recorded at 1453 reported wind from 090° at 9 knots, visibility 10 miles, scattered clouds at 4,000 and 25,000 feet, temperature 31°C, dew point 14°C, and an altimeter setting of 30.02 inches of mercury. Runway 02-20 at SUZ, elevation 390 feet msl, is 5,001 feet long and 100 feet wide, surfaced with asphalt, and was dry and in good condition.
Wreckage and Impact
The wreckage was found in a field a quarter mile southwest of SUZ, lying on its left side. There were no ground scars other than the impact crater, consistent with no forward velocity at impact. The main rotor blade remained attached to the mast. One of the three pusher propeller blades had snapped off, and the landing gear was bent aft.
Medical and Toxicological Findings
An autopsy attributed death to multiple traumatic injuries. Toxicological screening detected amlodipine (a calcium channel blocker for hypertension), losartan (for hypertension), sildenafil (for erectile dysfunction), and desmethylsildenafil (an active metabolite of sildenafil) in liver and cavity blood. No carbon monoxide or ethanol was detected; cyanide tests were not performed.