NTSB Identification: CEN14CA382
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, July 17, 2014 in Cape Girardeau, MO
Probable Cause Approval Date: 02/11/2015
Aircraft: GREMMINGER GREG MAGNI M 16, registration: N216MG
Injuries: 1 Serious.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot reported that he was performing a local flight in a gyroplane. He stated that he flew the gyroplane for an unknown period of time and then regained consciousness in a field after the accident. He reported that there was a transection of a nearby power line and that the gyroplane suffered damage to the propeller, main rotor, landing gear, and fuselage. He reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions of the gyroplane.
A witness reported seeing the gyroplane flying about 20 to 30 feet above ground level. He stated the pilot was waving at him. He noticed that the gyroplane was heading for a set of power lines nearby and he began waving to the pilot as a warning. The witness reported that the gyroplane struck the top wire of the power transmission wires, and then lost control and impacted the ground.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient altitude while maneuvering which led to a collision with power lines.
Flight Standards District Office: FAA St. Louis FSDO-62
A gyrocopter pilot was taken to the hospital Thursday afternoon after the experimental aircraft he was flying crashed in a field west of Cape Girardeau.
The pilot's name was not immediately available, but Capt. David James of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department said he did not appear seriously hurt.
"He's at least alive, sitting up and talking," James said. "... He looked like he was in good shape."
The owner of the field where the aircraft went down reported it was flying low enough for the pilot to wave at him before it hit a wire and crashed, James said.
The landowner tried to alert the pilot to the presence of the wire, James said.
"It looks like he hit that wire and just burned into the beanfield," he said.
No one else was injured in the crash, and the only damage appeared to be to the gyrocopter and a swath of beans about 50 yards long and two rows wide, James said.
Assistant chief Mark Hasheider of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department said the gyrocopter was flying out of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.
Hasheider said his department assisted Gordonville firefighters at the scene.
Gyrocopters are small, helicopter-style aircraft with a pair of propellers -- one on top and one on the back.
"They're pretty safe for the most part," James said.
He said most gyrocopters have just one seat, but the one that crashed Thursday was a two-seater model designed for training.
James said the Missouri State Highway Patrol was working the scene, and officials from National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.
Until the NTSB investigation is finished, the gyrocopter likely will remain where it is, James said.
"They don't carry much fuel on those things," he said.
Story and Magni Gyro prospective buyers (in the Southeast Missourian comments section): http://www.semissourian.com
First responders work the scene of a gyrocopter crash off of Cape
Girardeau County Road 203, Thursday, July 17, 2014. The gyrocopter
crashed in a field of soybeans. One person, the pilot, was on board at
the time, and was taken by ambulance from the scene to an area hospital.
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