The National Transportation Safety Board said the aircraft that crashed into a goat field near Melrose on July 30, killing two occupants, was a Tango 2 gyrocopter.
The NTSB issued a preliminary report on the crash, adding that one of the rotor blades on the vehicle was missing.
The report added that the missing rotor blade was found four days after the crash, about 312 feet from the main wreckage.
The two-seat gyrocopter is powered by a Yamaha, three-cylinder engine rated at 130 horsepower.
Vertical lift is provided by a 28-feet aluminum rotor blade, while forward propulsion is supplied by a 68-inch carbon fiber propeller, with a stainless-steel leading edge.
The cruising speed of the aircraft is 70 to 75 mph.
The NTSB said that on impact, the aircraft caught fire.
“Examination of the gyroplane revealed that the majority of the front and rear cockpits had
been consumed by a post-crash fire,” the NTSB said.
The federal agency reported that the pilot and instructor departed Melrose Landing Airport (FD22) at an unknown time.
“After the departure from FD22, witnesses observed the gyroplane flying around the local area, with one witness observing and hearing the gyroplane pass over an auto parts store, and another witness estimating that the gyroplane was operating at an airspeed of 20 to 30 knots, approximately 1,000 feet above ground level, while turning slowly to the northeast,” the report states. “Later (just prior to the accident), a witness observed the gyroplane circling around the area, and then objects began ‘falling from the sky.’ The gyroplane then ‘went down’ and he could see smoke.”
The crash occurred approximately six nautical miles from the Melrose Landing Airport.
The agency added that the two occupants lived in a hangar apartment at the airport. At the time of the crash, the instructor had been teaching the pilot how to fly the Tango 2.
“At the time of the accident, pilot logbooks indicated that he had given her about 9 hours of instruction in the gyroplane,” the report states.
The NTSB will issue a final report on the incident later.
