Two Festus residents died in a gyrocopter crash in Reynolds County on Wednesday evening, Sept. 23, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
Sgt. Eddie Young said Reynolds County Central Dispatch received a notification of vehicle crash detection from a cellphone or smart device at about 5:53 p.m. Authorities assumed it was a vehicle crash, he said.
Sheriff Caleb McCoy said first responders searched the GPS location provided by the device and were unable to find a crashed vehicle.
Young said later that evening, Washington County Airport in Potosi notified Reynolds County dispatch that a small aircraft had failed to return and provided the same location as the vehicle crash detection.
He believes a firefighter found the downed aircraft near a gravel bar of the Black River near County Road 334 at 11:49 p.m.
According to the Highway Patrol report, the crash occurred as the Magini Gyro struck a powerline and crashed. The occupants, a 50-year-old Festus woman and a 54-year-old Festus man were pronounced dead at 4:15 a.m.
Young said the Federal Aviation Administration has taken over the investigation. The Highway Patrol no longer identifies victims of crashes and the Reynolds County Coroner’s Office did not immediately identify the victims.
A gyrocopter is its own class of aircraft that uses an unpowered rotor to create lift and a separate engine-powered propeller to fly forward, according to the Gyrocopter Flight Training Academy website, gyrocopterflighttrainingacademy.com.