HISTORY OF FLIGHT Use your browsers 'back' function to return to
synopsisReturn to Query Page On August 30, 1999, approximately
1902 Pacific daylight time, a homebuilt Rotordyne 200
gyrocopter, N85Z, co-registered to/being flown by a commercial
pilot, was destroyed when it collided with terrain following a
loss of control in flight while maneuvering near the Crest
Airpark, Kent, Washington. The pilot was fatally injured and a
post-crash fire destroyed a portion of the aircraft. Visual
meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been
filed. The maintenance check flight, which was reportedly for
the purpose of balancing the rotor blades, was to have been
operated under 14CFR91, and originated from the Crest Airpark
shortly before the accident. A number of aeronautically
experienced witnesses saw the accident sequence and their
statements provided the following consistent observations: The
gyrocopter departed runway 15 climbing to an altitude of
approximately 300 feet above ground level (AGL) and