BY MICHAEL STAVOLA

Two people are dead after a gyrocopter wreck in Butler County, according to 911 emergency communications.

The crash was reported at 1:45 p.m. in between Whitewater and Potwin. The two people were the only ones in the aircraft, an official said. The original report was that one person died.

A gyrocopter looks similar to a helicopter but is powered differently.

In a helicopter, the top rotor is powered by an engine. The top rotor creates lift and propels the aircraft forward. A gyrocopter uses a rear propeller to push it forward, causing air to make its top rotor spin.

A gryrocopter, which is also called a gyroplane, needs very little forward speed to stay in the air, according to Plane and Pilot Magazine.

“That means that an engine failure in a gyroplane is a nonevent,” an article in the magazine says. “The craft will float down in autorotation like a parachute. A gyroplane flies in permanent autorotation. That virtue makes gyroplanes extraordinarily safe.

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