Skip to content

GAA18CA484

2018-08-09 · Spanish Fork, Utah, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SPK

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s failure to maintain pitch and yaw control during takeoff.

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot of the gyroplane reported that, during takeoff, he pulled the stick back and advanced the throttle to full. He accelerated and noticed "there was no tendency for the nose to rise", so he applied back pressure and the gyroplane immediately turned left, rolled onto its side, and skidded off the runway to the left. The gyroplane sustained substantial damage to the main rotor, fuselage, and empennage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the gyroplane that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor provided a video of the student pilot's accident takeoff. The video showed the gyroplane accelerating down the runway, rapidly pitching up, and immediately rotating to the left before impacting the runway. The solo student pilot of the gyroplane reported that, during takeoff, he pulled the stick back and advanced the throttle to full. He accelerated and noticed "there was no tendency for the nose to rise," so he applied back pressure, and the gyroplane immediately turned left, rolled onto its side, and skidded off the runway to the left. The gyroplane sustained substantial damage to the main rotor, fuselage, and empennage. The student reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the gyroplane that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor provided a video of the student pilot's accident takeoff. The video showed the gyroplane accelerating down the runway, rapidly pitching up, and immediately rotating to the left before impacting the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Yaw control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA484.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.