Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flagler Counter Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bunnell, Florida 32126
Tuesady, March 11, 1997 17:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/owner of the gyrocopter had completed maintenance repairs on the gyrocopter prior to the attempted departure. The pilot made a bending adjustment to the front flight control stick and had reinstalled it into the front position. Since this gyrocopter was also used for training, and the student pilot station was the front, the pilot had placed a frangible stick in that position. The purpose of the frangible or 'soft stick,' was to enable the instructor pilot, seated in the rear, to override the control forces of the student. According to an eyewitness, the pilot climbed into the front seat and the passenger climbed into the rear seat. The witness watched the gyrocopter as it climbed to about the height of the trees, entered a left turn and disappeared out of sight. Seconds later the witness saw a large flame coming from the vicinity where the gyrocopter was last seen. An examination of the gyrocopter at the accident site disclosed that the front seat control stick was fractured; the control stick fracture faces exhibited features typical of a fatigue cracking.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The owner/pilot mechanic's improper bending of the front flight control stick that resulted in an fatigue failure, and the subsequent loss of flight control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/11/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1740 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BUNNELL |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32126 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FLAGLER COUNTER AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X47 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 32 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 175 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DAB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 35 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 450 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 459 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 11 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1827 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N254WP |
| NTSB Number | ATL97LA048 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BILL PARSON |
| Aircraft Model | PARSON 2+2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PARSON 2+2 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 120 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Unknown |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM H. PARSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | POB BOX 40 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE MONROE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32136 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | X47 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1739 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |