Russian man, 88, dies after homemade helicopter falls apart on takeoff

The DIY aircraft was one of five made by Vladimir Trapeznikov, according to Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti. (Volga Region Transport Prosecutor's Office via CNN Newsource)

An 88-year-old Russian man, who gained local fame for building his own aircraft, has died after attempting to take off in a homemade helicopter.

The man, a resident of the Omutninsky district of western Russia’s Kirov Region, attempted the flight in the self-built aircraft on Thursday, the Volga Region Transport Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release Friday.

However, the helicopter self-destructed during take-off, it added.

The aircraft failed to lift off and, instead, “during engine startup, while still on the ground and as the engine power was building, the main rotor blades detached. This caused injuries to the pilot, born in 1937,” the district emergency services told Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti on Friday.

The man was taken to the Omutninsky District Hospital, the regional transport prosecutor’s office said. However, he died hours later, RIA Novosti reported.

The vehicle was unregistered and the circumstances of the incident are being investigated, the prosecutor’s office added.

An avid inventor

RIA Novosti named the dead man as Vladimir Trapeznikov, citing law enforcement.

He was a self-taught inventor who dreamed as a child of becoming a pilot, according to local media and social media channels.

While he ended up becoming a driver for a logging company, he gained local fame for building flying machines.

Successfully flying a homemade airplane led him to feature in a short film in a “Panorama” cinema and TV newsreel in 1985, according to RIA Novosti.

Trapeznikov made a total of five aircraft, according to reports, dying after attempting to launch his latest creation.

He is not the first person to try to take to the skies in an aircraft of their own making.

A man in the UK spent his spare time during the coronavirus pandemic building a plane in his garden for his family.

An Ethiopian man spent 10 years researching, using aviation manuals and YouTube tutorials, and almost two years building a DIY plane in order to fly to his own wedding in 2015.

By Darya Tarasova and Amarachi Orie, CNN