Gyrocopter pilot dies 5 days after crash near Larkspur, Colorado

The pilot of a gyrocopter that crashed in a Colorado neighborhood earlier this month died five days later, according to the NTSB. The aircraft was substantially damaged when it went down in the area of Crow Drive and Cheyenne Drive, south of Perry Park Country Club, near Larkspur on July 13. 

According to investigators, the pilot passed away in the hospital on July 18 while flying from the Central Colorado Airport in Buena Vista to Meadowlake Airport in Peyton. The NTSB report details the pilot's plan to circumnavigate Davis Airfield in Colorado Springs to the north and then fly back toward the east toward Peyton. Investigators said the pilot called a friend on his cellphone to let him know that he was flying over Lake George in Park County. 

A witness told the NTSB that she was walking her dog outside her home about 8 a.m. when she heard the gyrocopter flying overhead and said it was low and that the engine was "struggling." That's when she said the gyrocopter's engine stopped and it fell through the trees. The witness said the pilot was conscious but not speaking and that fuel was dripping from the fuel tank. 

The NTSB said the gyrocopter was relatively intact when it came to rest on its right side under a group of trees and that the rotor blades were bent and cracked. One of the rotor blade tips was sheared off. 

The NTSB said, according to the engine and airframe logbooks, the gyrocopter would have been due for an annual inspection in September 2026. 

The incident remains under investigation.