Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Prineville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Prineville, Oregon 97754
Sunday, September 15, 2002 9:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot reported that he flew the gyroplane down to about 11 feet above the runway surface for landing. He then pulled the control stick back to level the aircraft. The student pilot stated that the aircraft ballooned a little so he pushed the stick forward. At this point, the aircraft was about 12 feet above the runway and it began to rapidly descend. The student pilot applied power to arrest the sink rate, however, the rotor speed had decayed and the aircraft landed hard with no forward airspeed. After touchdown, the aircraft bounced and tilted to the left. The rotors contacted the runway surface and the aircraft came to rest on its left side. The student pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the aircraft at the time.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/15/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Prineville |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97754 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 441722N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1205423W |
| Event Location Airport | Prineville |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | S39 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3250 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12916 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 15 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1615 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2003 4:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Hillsboro, OR |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N25069 |
| NTSB Number | SEA02LA176 |
| 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 | Eells |
| Aircraft Model | Air Command 503 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1D188 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 92 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Belinda C. Eells |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Redmond |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97756 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | S39 |
| Departure City | Prineville |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | S39 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2002 7:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |