Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Granite Shoals Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Granite Shoals, Texas 78654
Tuesady, April 2, 2002 11:20 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot took off to the north in the gyrocopter to practice takeoffs and landings, with winds light and variable. After takeoff and reaching an altitude of 90 feet agl, the aircraft stopped climbing. As the aircraft was now near the departure end of the runway, the pilot elected not to try landing on the runway, feeling he would overshoot the runway into a wooded field. The pilot proceeded northward and initiated a gentle turn to the right, intending to land on the runway to the south; however, the aircraft continued to lose altitude. When the pilot was 90 degrees into his turn, he felt he was getting too far east of the runway, at which time he decided to land to the east on an east-west roadway which bordered the north boundary of the runway. As the pilot "straightened out," the aircraft stopped losing altitude, but was now barely above treetop level. Preparing to land, the pilot's attention was diverted as he was looking for cars, overhanging trees, power lines, and TV lines, resulting in the aircraft's wheels impacting the top strand of a power line. The aircraft broke through the power lines, impacted terrain, and came to rest on its left side.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain clearance with a power line while maneuvering. Contributing factors were the pilot's diverted attention and the power lines.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/2/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1120 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Granite Shoals |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78654 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 303442N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0982025W |
| Event Location Airport | Granite Shoals Muni Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 32TE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 860 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12785 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 2 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N248JT |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA110 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Thornley |
| Aircraft Model | Thornley 2000 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | H2-00-11-461 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1330 |
| 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 | Dec 18 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 52 |
| Airframe Hours | 202 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Johnny Thornley |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 124 Rainbow Drive, #2431 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Livingston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77399 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | 32TE |
| Departure City | Granite Shoals |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Descent - emergency |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2002 7:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 02 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |