Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Scappoose Industrial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Scappoose, Oregon 97056
Saturday, July 24, 1999 12:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness observed the gyroplane on final approach to land on the taxiway. When the gyroplane was about 200-250 feet high on final, the witness saw a high-wing ultralight vehicle climb into view, after takeoff from the taxiway. The ultralight's climb was described as very steep. The witness stated that 'the ultralight impacted the gyroplane, very hard, at the aft end striking the rudder with the ultralight[']s propeller. I could see many pieces of debris in the air at the point of impact. Both aircraft were stopped in the mid-air. The ultralight raised up into the rotor system of the gyroplane coming in contact with the rotor blade. This impact threw the ultralight off to the right, and then it came in, nose down, landing on the right side of the taxi way. The gyroplane after being hit from behind, stopped in mid-air. The rotor blade, after being hit by the ultralight, lost 7 ft. on one side (of a 29 foot blade) rendering the rotor system completely ineffective. The gyroplane then spun slowly on its side, in the air, approximately 200 ft. above ground.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the ultralight operator to see and avoid the landing gyroplane, and the gyroplane pilot's inability to see the departing ultralight vehicle.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SCAPPOOSE |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97056 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SCAPPOOSE INDUSTRIAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 55 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1014 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 24 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1935 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N61887 | NONE |
| NTSB Number | SEA99LA129A | SEA99LA129B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 103: Ultralight |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | VANEK | Unknown |
| Aircraft Model | SPORT COPTER | |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SPORT COPT | |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 070 | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Gyrocraft | Ultralight |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | Not Registered |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes | Unknown |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 23 1999 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 65 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 665 | -- |
| ELT Installed | No | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES VANEK | RAY K HIGBEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 34012 N SKYWAY DRIVE | 39122 E CROWN POINT HWY |
| Aircraft Owner City | SCAPPOOSE | CORBETT |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97056 | 97019 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | ||
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ||
| Operator City | ||
| Operator State | ||
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | ||
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 1S4 | 1S4 |
| Departure City | ||
| Departure State | ||
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 0 | 1210 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | |
| 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 | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:27PM | Jan 10 2001 12:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |