FAI confirm pilot receiving treatment after gyrocopter crash at World Air Games

FAI have confirmed a pilot is receiving treatment following a gyrocopter crash ©Facebook/worldairgames

The World Air Sports Federation have confirmed an accident took place during the World Air Games in Dubai with a pilot receiving treatment in hospital after their gyrocopter crashed during competition.

An investigation by Games officials, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and the Dubai Police to determine the cause of the incident has been opened.

The FAI have confirmed they are taking steps to notify the family of the pilot concerned.

“An accident took place on 9 December 2015 at approximately 14.30 in which a gyrocopter crashed whilst involved with the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015,” a statement read.

“The pilot who is part of this event may have sustained injuries, the extent of which are presently unknown.

“For unknown reasons the gyrocopter fell into the water at Skydive Dubai Palm Dropzone.”

Norway's Kurt Norevik and Petter Strømme won the air navigation race ©FAI

Competition continued elsewhere, despite the accident, with the air navigation race among the events drawing to a close.

Norwegian pilot Kurt Norevik and navigator Petter Strømme eventually emerged as the winner in the event, which only allowed its 14 pairs to use a compass and stopwatch to navigate.

The pair held of the challenge of their Polish rivals Bolek Radomski and Darek Lechowski to claim the gold, posting strong times and accruing only two penalties.

Meanwhile, the accuracy skydiving competition belatedly began, having been halted due to adverse weather conditions during the last two days, with Slovenia, Belarus, and Russian teams currently sharing first place in the standings.

Each team boasts five skydivers, who, in addition to targeting a gold medal for their country, are hoping to book their places in the individual final of the event, with the top 25 per cent after the opening eight rounds due to advance to the semi-finals.

The highlight of the competition so far was the Belarusian team scoring a perfect zero with their opening attempt after four of their skydivers set of the bullseye buzzer at the beach dropzone.