Pilot crashed gyrocopter in Great Heck after brake left on - report

A gyrocopter crashing into a canal was likely caused by a brake still being applied, a report has said.

The crash happened on 15 September 2023 at 14:05 BST at Great Heck, near Selby.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report published this week said the aircraft was damaged due to the rotor blades detaching.

The pilot, 76, told investigators he believed "he left the rotor brake applied", which led him to descend into the canal.

The report stated that the pilot had positioned his gyrocopter to take off southwards from Great Heck Airstrip and, due to his experience, he started the engine and completed the checklists for take off from memory.

However, while he was pre-rotating the rotor, he realised he had forgotten his pen and sun cap and so shut down the engine and applied the rotor brake, before going to get them,

The report said "When he re-entered the gyrocopter, he restarted the engine and later remarked that it took 'an unusually long time' to pre-rotate the rotor to take off, but he did not think about it further at the time.

The pilot took off and climbed away but began to lose altitude as he flew near the canal, becoming "startled" by the descent.

"The canal banks were too narrow to land on without striking foliage, so the pilot decided to ditch in the canal," the report said.

The pilot was able to escape through the passenger door as his door was "wedged against the canal bank".

The BBC previously reported the pilot was checked over by Yorkshire Ambulance Service after the incident.

A statement from the pilot said that he "believes he left the rotor brake applied when he re-entered the aircraft after getting his pen and sun cap".

"He said that had he re-started his checklist from the beginning, he would have remembered to check that the rotor brake was disengaged before pre-rotating the rotor," the report added.

The AAIB added they were "unaware of any previous events in which the rotor brake had been left applied prior to take off and the manufacturer is no longer in business, so a Safety Recommendation to include this on the checklist is not deemed necessary".