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NTSB: Flight instructor, pilot killed in July gyroplane crash in Clay County

MELROSE, Fla. — Action News Jax has obtained the National Transportation and Safety Board’s preliminary report for a deadly gyroplane crash that happened in July in Clay County.

A flight instructor and pilot were on board and died when they crashed into a goat pasture in Melrose on July 30.

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A witness saw the aircraft circling the area then said objects seemed to fall from the sky.

The gyroplane went down and the witness saw smoke.

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Investigators say most of the front and rear cockpits were destroyed in a fire after the crash.

The rotor blade was found about 312 feet away from the main wreckage.

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A gyroplane looks like a helicopter, but there’s no engine attached to the rotor on top.

An engine in the rear provides forward thrust only. Wind passing around in the rotor blades causes them to turn and lift.

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