A gyrocopter crashed into the sea off Dubai on Wednesday afternoon, with the pilot sustaining injuries, during the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015, organisers announced.
“For unknown reasons the gyrocopter fell into the water at Skydive Dubai Palm Dropzone,” the World Air Games Organising Committee said in a statement cited by state news agency WAM.
It said the pilot of the small aircraft who was involved in the incident “may have sustained injuries, the extent of which are presently unknown, and was taken to hospital for medical care”.
The World Air Games, organised by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), is currently taking place at SkyDive Dubai.
“We do not yet know what caused that accident, but an investigation has started to determine the causes and to prevent such a thing from happening again. This is being undertaken by the event organisers, together with the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and the Dubai Police,” the statement from the committee said.
The FAI World Air Games is the premier international multi-discipline air sports event fielding the world’s top Air Sports athletes.
The FAI’s primary goals for the event are to showcase air sports to the general public and promote public participation in air sports.
Previous editions of the Games took place in Turkey (1997), Spain (2001) and Italy (2009).