Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gillette, Wyoming 82716
Sunday, April 30, 2000 8:25 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses said the experimental amateur-built gyrocopter (or gyroplane) was flying low and the engine sounded like it was 'racing,' or 'sputtering,' then 'the rotors come apart in the air.' There was no evidence of the rotor blades separating in flight, but there was evidence that the blades had struck the vertical stabilizer and rudder, severing the tail boom. Two blades of the 4-blade propeller were shattered. The pilot's close friend (who assisted the pilot in building the gyrocopter) said if the pilot was flying at high speed and was to suddenly increase the angle of attack and abruptly move the cyclic control aft, the main rotor blades could conceivably strike the tail boom. The accident site was near abruptly rising terrain. On a previous occasion, the pilot accelerated to a high ground speed before increasing the angle of attack for liftoff. The rotor blades struck the runway and were damaged to the extent that they had to be replaced.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's abruptly pulling the nose up at an excessive airspeed, resulting in the rotor blades striking the vertical stabilizer and a subsequent loss of aircraft control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/30/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 825 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | GILLETTE |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82716 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 855 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GCC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4363 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4182 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 279 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NW OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 30 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 914 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2001 7:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2411V |
| NTSB Number | DEN00LA079 |
| 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 | GREEN |
| Aircraft Model | GTX-SE-FI |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | GTX-SE-FI |
| Aircraft Serial Number | H2-00-11-442 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1540 |
| Aircraft Category | Gyrocraft |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 29 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 11 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GERALD D. GREEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 311 S. GILLETTE AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | GILLETTE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82716 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | GILLETTE |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 820 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 | Mar 4 2001 7:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |