NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA18CA484
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
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or 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 ↗.
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