What happened
On 27 January 2006, a RAF 2000 GTX SE FI gyroplane, registered ZU-DYR, was involved in a landing accident at Brits Aerodrome. The aircraft, operated by a student pilot, had departed from the same aerodrome for a private flight with the intention of returning to the same location.
Upon returning to the airfield, the pilot landed the aircraft on Runway 20. While attempting to vacate the runway via the exit taxiway located to the right, the aircraft's speed was excessive for the maneuver. This resulted in the gyroplane toppling over. Following the incident, the pilot successfully evacuated the aircraft and manually repositioned the airframe onto its wheels, pushing it toward the hangar to clear the active runway.
The investigation
The investigation examined the pilot's credentials, the aircraft's maintenance history, and the mechanical state of the gyroplane. The pilot was flying under a valid gyroplane student pilot license, with the specific aircraft type endorsed in his logbook. At the time of the incident, the pilot held a valid medical certificate.
Regarding the aircraft, ZU-DYR was classified as an amateur-built, non-type-certificated aircraft. Maintenance records indicated that the most recent annual inspection had been completed on 22 January 2006, with only 16 flight hours accumulated since that inspection. The investigation confirmed that the aircraft sustained damage to the propeller blades, main rotor blades, wheel spats, and the fiberglass cabin structure. There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries reported.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was that the aircraft landing speed was too high during the attempt to turn into the exit taxiway.
- The aircraft was an amateur-built model operating under non-type-certificated conditions.