Summary

A MAN WAS KILLED THIS PAST WEEKEND WHEN HIS EXPERIMENTAL GYRO-CHOPPER CRASHED DURING A TEST FLIGHT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS A CROSS BETWEEN A PLANE AND A HELICOPTER.

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 222746
Story Slug Gyro - Chopper - Crash
Location Fort Myers, Florida
Format PKG
Date 1/28/2002
Archive Time 57:02
TRT 1:32
Supers Naples, Florida Diedre Pettit, Witness Jessica Ritter, Reporting John Kirchner, Airport Manager
Video Description CRUMPLED CRAFT BEING MOVED. ORANGE WIND SOCK. PETTIT SOT. AT RACE TRACK-VARIOUS SHOTS OF PETTIT AND CARS. PETTIT SOT. SHOTS OF CRAFT BEING WORKED ON. MAN PICKING UP DEBRIS. KIRCHNER SOT. CRAFT BEING HAULED AWAY. AIRPLANE TAKING OFF. GYROCOPTER ON PAD. STAND UP SOT WHILE NEXT TO CHOPPER. AT RACE TRACK AGAIN. GOLF CART IN TRAILER. COPTER BEING MOVED. HANGAR AND POLICE CRUISER. COPTER'S TAIL WITH SUN IN BACKGROUND.
Description A MAN WAS KILLED THIS PAST WEEKEND WHEN HIS EXPERIMENTAL GYRO-CHOPPER CRASHED DURING A TEST FLIGHT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS A CROSS BETWEEN A PLANE AND A HELICOPTER.
Script (LEAD) A NAPLES MAN IS DEAD AFTER HIS SMALL PLANE CRASHES. THE FATAL ACCIDENT HAPPENED THIS PAST WEEKEND AT THE IMMOKALEE REGIONAL AIRPORT IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. NOW FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS ARE LOOKING IN TO WHAT CAUSED THE AIRCRAFT, KNOWN AS A GYROPLANE, TO GO DOWN. JESSICA RITTER HAS DETAILS. (PKG) (NATS) (SOT-PETTIT- "He was maybe a thousand feet up in the air and that was it. He spiraled all the way down, it was like in slow motion.") AT THE RACE TRACK NEXT TO THE AIRPORT, (NATS) WEEKEND RACE FAN AND TRAINED PILOT SAW THE COPTER GO DOWN. (SOT-PETTIT- "If something goes wrong with that gyrocopter, there's nothing you can do. And there's nothing around you, no plane around you to help take some of the shock.") IT WAS ONLY CARL QUITZAU'S THIRD RUN ON HIS HAND-BUILD GYRO-COPTER. IT WAS ALSO HIS LAST. (SOT-KIRCHNER- "The aircraft was operating properly and he was on his way to come back for a final landing for the day when the aircraft basically fell out of the sky.") BUT ACCIDENTS WITH GYROCOPTERS, FATAL ONES AT LEAST, ARE RARE. PILOTS CAN ONLY FLY SIXTY MILES AN HOUR. NOT LIKE NORMAL AIRCRAFT... (SOT-STAND UP- "You need a quarter million dollars, and a certified F-A-A licence. But for a gyro-copter, you get a kit, put it together for about 8 thousand dollars. And you don't need a licence.") (NATS) (SOT-PETTIT- "I think it's dangerous, I think they should have licences, they should have licences to fly. They shouldn't be able to take on up that they just built and practice with it.") WHILE QUITZAU WAS A LICENSED PILOT, HIS 15 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE COULDN'T SAVE HIM OUT HERE TODAY. (ANCHOR TAG) THE VICTIM'S NEPHEW WAS AT THE AIRPORT, WAITING FOR HIS UNCLE TO LAND. HE WITNESSES THE CRASH. THE F-A-A IS NOW LOOKING INTO WHETHER MECHANICAL PROBLEMS CAUSED THE ACCIDENT. RECAP
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