Hawley, Mn (AP) — Federal investigators say a passer by saw a gyroplane descend nose down and crash into the ground at a western Minnesota airport this month, killing the pilot.

According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, the gyroplane crashed 300 feet from the departure end of the single runway at Hawley Municipal Airport on July 11.

The plane started on fire shortly after the crash. The report says the passer-by was driving on U.S. 10 and saw the crash, stopped and pulled the pilot from the burning wreckage. The passer-by suffered serious burns to his hands.

The pilot, 69-year-old Bradley Gibb of Vergas, was the only person aboard and died at the scene.

The crash left a 30-foot ground scar. Conditions were dry and clear when the daytime crash happened.

 

Previously…
HAWLEY, Minn. (AP) — The pilot who died in an ultra-light plane crash at a municipal airport was from western Minnesota.Authorities identified the man as 69-year-old Bradley Gibb of Vergas.The plane crashed after noon on Thursday at Hawley Municipal Airport. Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting says Gibb was the only person aboard and died at the scene.Empting says the plane started on fire after the crash. A bystander was treated for minor burns after helping the pilot.Airport manager Lisa Jetvig has said the plane crashed south of the airport’s single runway. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.The airport is west of Hawley (HAW’-lee) on U.S. 10. Hawley is about 22 miles (35 kilometers) east of Moorhead.
Previously…
HAWLEY, Minn. (AP) (WDAY-INFORUM)  —  A gyrocopter, a type of  ultralight plane, crashed Thursday afternoon at a municipal airport in western Minnesota killing the pilot.  The small plane crashed just after 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Hawley Municipal Airport.
Airport manager Lisa Jetvig says local emergency officials and the Federal Aviation Administration  were on the scene Thursday afternoon  and the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified.
She says the airplane crashed south of the airport’s single runway.
The pilot’s name, age and hometown were not immediately released.
Clay County, Minnesota Sheriff  Mark Empting says a bystander who removed the pilot from the aircraft was slightly injured, and was treated at the scene by first responders.
A fire caused by the crash was extinguished by the Hawley Fire Department.Assisting at the scene were, the Hawley Police Department, and the Minnesota State Patrol.
The city-owned airport is west of Hawley (HAW’-lee) on U.S. 10. The airport’s runway was closed.Hawley is about 22 miles (35 kilometers) east of Moorhead.