Amateur-built REVOLUTION MINI-500 accident near Gridley, California, August 26, 2000
On August 26, 2000 at about 4:06 pm local time, a amateur-built REVOLUTION MINI-500 (helicopter), registered N7SZ, was substantially damaged in an accident near Gridley, California. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The fracture and separation of a control rod in the cyclic flight control system.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 26, 2000 · about 4:06 pm local time
- Place
- Gridley, California · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built REVOLUTION MINI-500 REVOLUTION
- Registration
- N7SZ · registry record · serial 0098
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While maneuvering at 700 feet agl, the pilot of the amateur-built helicopter felt something "break" and the fore-and-aft portion of the cyclic flight control system became inoperative (disconnected). He lowered the collective control, reduced engine power, and made a run-on landing in an open field. During the landing the toe of one skid "dug in" and the helicopter came to rest on its side. Postaccident examination revealed that a push-pull tube in the cyclic control system fractured circumferentially in the wall at one end near where a through-bolt attached the rod end fitting to the tube.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 131 hours in all; 87 in this make and model; 34 in the last 90 days; 15 in the last 30 days; 97 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 928 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded, August 22, 2000; 1 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 975 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rotax 582 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: CA at 3:40 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 162°F (72°C), dew point 118°F (48°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 3:53 pm from OVE, 8 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.