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MIA90FA102

1990-04-07 · OKEECHOBEE, Florida, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport OBE

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT'S DECISION TO ATTEMPT TO FLY THE GYROCOPTER WITHOUT PROPER TRAINING RESULTING IN THE INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL AND SUBSEQUENT CRASH.

Factual narrative

PLT HAD RECEIVED ONLY APROX. 1 HOUR TOTAL GYROCOPTER FLIGHT TIME AND APPROX. 15 MINUTES OF DUAL INSTRUCTION AND HAD NOT BEEN SIGNED OFF FOR SOLO FLIGHT. PLT HAD EXPIRED MEDICAL CERTIFICATE AND NO RECORD OF HAVING RECEIVED A BIENNIAL FLIGHT REVIEW. GYROCOPTER HAD NO RECORD OF HAVING CURRENT INSPECTION. PLT INADVERTENTLY LET GYROCOPTER PORPOISE RESULTING IN MAIN ROTOR RPM SLOWING AND MAIN ROTOR BLADE CONTACTING ROTOR HEAD AND PROPELLER. ALL CONTROL WAS LOST AND GYROCOPTER DESCENDED OUT OF CONTROL COLLIDING WITH THE GROUND. NO POST CRASH EVIDENCE OF FAILURE OF THE STRUCTURE, FLIGHT CONTROLS, OR ENGINE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_MIA90FA102.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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