A pitch assembly for use with a wind turbine including a rotor having a hub with three mutually perpendicular axes X, Y, and Z and at least one rotor blade coupled to the rotor , said pitch assembly comprising: a pitch drive system coupled to the rotor blade for rotating the rotor blade about a pitch axis ; at least one acceleration sensor being mounted with respect to the rotor for sensing an overspeed of the rotor , said at least one acceleration sensor is provided to facilitate sensing an acceleration vector A X1 in a direction along axis X and an acceleration vector A y1 in a direction along axis Y, said acceleration sensor is communicatively coupled to said pitch drive system , and said pitch drive system is configured to rotate the rotor blade when said sensor senses rotor overspeed; a power generator coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor , said power generator configured to provide power during a wind turbine power loss event; and an overspeed control system having a controller for controlling the pitch drive system during rotor overspeed, wherein the overspeed control system is communicatively coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor , and the overspeed control system is configured to override a control system , such that the control system no longer controls the pitch drive system , wherein the controller is programmed to store a velocity function representative of an overspeed condition of the rotor , to receive signals corresponding to the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1 , to associate an acceleration value with each received signal, to identify a rotational speed of the rotor using at least one of the acceleration values associated with the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1 , to compare an identified velocity function of the rotor with the stored overspeed velocity function, and to control the pitch drive system to facilitate reducing the rotational speed of rotor , wherein the pitch drive system is controlled when an identified rotational speed is at or exceeds an overspeed rotational speed. a pitch drive system coupled to the rotor blade for rotating the rotor blade about a pitch axis ; at least one acceleration sensor being mounted with respect to the rotor for sensing an overspeed of the rotor , said at least one acceleration sensor is provided to facilitate sensing an acceleration vector A X1 in a direction along axis X and an acceleration vector A y1 in a direction along axis Y, said acceleration sensor is communicatively coupled to said pitch drive system , and said pitch drive system is configured to rotate the rotor blade when said sensor senses rotor overspeed; a power generator coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor , said power generator configured to provide power during a wind turbine power loss event; and an overspeed control system having a controller for controlling the pitch drive system during rotor overspeed, wherein the overspeed control system is communicatively coupled to the pitch drive system and to the sensor , and the overspeed control system is configured to override a control system , such that the control system no longer controls the pitch drive system , wherein the controller is programmed to store a velocity function representative of an overspeed condition of the rotor , to receive signals corresponding to the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1 , to associate an acceleration value with each received signal, to identify a rotational speed of the rotor using at least one of the acceleration values associated with the sensed acceleration vectors A X1 and/or A Y1 , to compare an identified velocity function of the rotor with the stored overspeed velocity function, and to control the pitch drive system to facilitate reducing the rotational speed of rotor , wherein the pitch drive system is controlled when an identified rotational speed is at or exceeds an overspeed rotational speed. <EOS>