Robert Snyder AUTOGYRO CALIDUS accident near Beaufort, SC
On March 5, 2018, a Robert Snyder AUTOGYRO CALIDUS (gyroplane) was involved in an accident near Beaufort, SC. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- March 5, 2018
- Place
- Beaufort, SC
- Aircraft
- Robert Snyder AUTOGYRO CALIDUS · Gyroplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 32.412°N, 80.634°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180305X44855
Official records · ERA18LA095
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On March 5, 2018, about 0935 eastern standard time, an experimental, amateur-built Autogyro Calidus gyroplane, N221YT, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during approach to Beaufort County Airport (ARW), Beaufort, South Carolina. The private pilot was fatally injured. The gyroplane was owned and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight, which departed ARW about 0932.According to a witness who worked at the airport, the pilot of the gyroplane made a transmission on the airport's common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) that he was taking off on runway 25. The witness observed the gyroplane take off and climb to about 75 ft above ground level about halfway down the 3,434-ft-long runway. The gyroplane was climbing slowly, and everything appeared normal. The witness did not continue to watch the gyroplane but heard the pilot make another routine radio transmission at 0933. At 0937, the witness received a telephone call that the gyroplane had crashed near the departure end of runway 25 at 0935. The caller reported to the witness that the gyroplane was low over a field when it rolled inverted and impacted a marsh. Another witness reported that he was taxiing his airplane for takeoff on runway 7 at ARW. The gyroplane had just taken off and the accident pilot announced on the CTAF that he was departing on runway 25 and returning to runway 7 with a simulated engine out. The witness estimated that the gyroplane climbed to 300 to 500 ft above grou
Probable cause
The gyroplane pilot's failure to maintain rotor speed and aircraft control as he was attempting to return to the runway during a low-altitude simulated engine-out maneuver.
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Browse: South Carolina
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
