Fatality in north QLD

[asra]

Early today I was informed of a gyro fatality at Ayr in north QLD. I have dispatched Allan Wardill and Mark Bredden to the accident scene and although I cant release the name of the deceased I can say it was a two place Magni gyroplane. One POB.We have absolutely no details at the moment as to a possible cause.Murray Barker.

[asra]

I can now confirm the pilot was Michael Howard and the accident was close to the airport at Home Hill.

[joew]

I can now confirm the pilot was Micheal Howard and the accident was close to the airport at Home Hill.Please accept my condolences,Joe W

[Greg Mitchell]

A bloody tragedy! I met Michael at Biggenden and then Lameroo with his Magni in tow and his beloved wife. Very, very Sad. Mitch

[Mark Horan]

Oh dear,bad News for us all. Mark.

[asra]

When I go I hope it is doing something that I loved doing and I am sure this was the case for Michael. Having said that it is still a tragedy. RIPKeith

[Brian]

Our thought and prayers are with Micheal"s

[birdy]

Is this the "Italion Stallion" from Lameroo??Kinda stuffed a good day for me this did. :-[

[elwynne]

Shocking news,

[Brian]

Is this the "Italion Stallion" from Lameroo??Kinda stuffed a good day for me this did. :-[Thats him ! Yep, stuffed up the day for most of us I reckon.

[Greg Mitchell]

I"m still having a bad day. I think the next couple or more will be ordinary.Michael was bringing his Magni to the Tassie Nationals, I was very much looking forward to seeing him again. He will be sorely missed. He had talked about flying across the "ditch".Adventurous and interesting, happy fella.Thanks to Bones and Allan for taking care of the "business at hand".

[tonydenton]

yeah what crapp day . i had friends ringing about michael, i"ve had ride in his magni with dave s. then later in the day a young guy tipped over a fork lift at work and defied death ,but once we had righted it he was removing a chain from the mast and the carriage dropped and severed his arm off to just a few blood vessels holding it together. 2 plates 14 screws and 5.5hrs surgery later we"re hoping it all sticks together. 20-2-09 what a crap day.

[asra]

I’ve had a few shots at asra lately so I would just like to say that I appreciate the job you blokes do at a time like this. My condolences to family and friends.

[HobbyCAD]

From the Rotary Wing Forum:Hello All, We are at the point of publishing an Airworthiness Directive in Australia for Magni gyro"s. Thank you for all being patient but as you would expect we had to be sure of our facts.The Magni is unique in a few area"s of construction,one being the use of right AND left hand thread rod ends used in the control system vertical control rods.This system is also used in some brands of helicopters.The main reason for this design I believe is ease of adjustment.On the recent accident gyro it was found that one of the control rods was completely dislodged from the upper and lower rod end. No evidence of damage to the threads on either the rod end or the insert was found.The control rod was found loose at the impact site.It was obvious to the investigators that the rod had unscrewed in flight rendering the gyro uncontrollable.Obviously once the rod ends/lock nuts were loose and with the apparent lack of any locking type compound on the threads there was nothing to stop the control rod from completely unscrewing.This is of course different when two right hand threads are used where if the control rod does become loose it will never detach if at least half the thread of each rod end is screwed into the control rod insert.All Magni gyro"s in Australia are now grounded pending the owner fitting a positive locking device on the control rods/rod ends.We fully appreciate the excellent safety record of this brand of gyro and admit there are extenuating circumstances with the rod ends on the aircraft that crashed.I will publish the AD on a separate thread and we will advise the Magni factory of our findings.In the meantime I would appreciate if anyone you know that may not read this to be informed and make the inspection of this area of their gyro a priority at preflight.Thanks,Murray Barker,Australian Sport Rotorcraft Association.Not good news !!

[asra]

This post on the US forum was for the benefit of Magni owners in other countries.The ASRA board has approved an AD for all gyro"s in Australia.Owners of Magni"s in Australia were notified immediately after the initial accident.