On the day of the accident, the pilot prepared the gyroplane for flight and checked the weather conditions at the airfield (CAVOK). Then he refueled gyroplane (about 100 liters) and made a pre-flight check, started the engine, and after warm up, started taxiing to the take-off point.
At 10:30 hrs LMT, the pilot initiated the take-off procedure by starting the pre-rotation of the main rotor. After reaching the pre-rotation speed of 200 rpm, the pilot moved the control stick backward and the engine power control lever to the “full throttle” position to start the take-off run. The gyroplane started to move, but then the pilot noticed that he had not unlocked the main landing gear wheel brake, so he tried to unlock the brake.
After finding that the brake could not be unlocked, the pilot decided to abort the takeoff. He reduced the engine power and moved the control stick forward. The gyroplane slowed down and at the same time tilted to the right. In that position, the rotating main vrotor touched the ground, which caused the gyrocopter to suddenly rotate and turn over on its right side. When the gyroplane came to rest, the pilot left the cockpit via the broken front glazing of the fuselage without suffering any injuries.
Cause of the accident: Pilot’s error consisting in starting the take-off run with braked wheels of the main landing gear, which resulted in the creation of destructive forces at the landing gear attachment points resulting in the landing gear damage during take-off run.
Contributing factor: Little experience of the pilot.
PKBWL has not proposed any safety recommendation after completion of the investigation.
