Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Prineville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Prineville, Oregon 97754
Monday, October 27, 2003 14:27 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-certificated pilot said he didn't know he needed a pilot's license or medical certificate to fly the gyrocopter, and that this was the first time he had ever flown the aircraft. The pilot went up and down the runway a number of times getting the feel of the aircraft. After taking off the pilot said he thought he had the stick too far back and that he stalled the aircraft. The aircraft impacted terrain on the left side of the runway, coming to rest on its right side and tilting over about 45 degrees. The pilot had received no flight training before the flight, but had viewed instructional videotapes about flying gyroplanes.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall during the initial takeoff climb. A factor was the lack of pilot certification.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/27/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1427 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Prineville |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97754 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 441713N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1205419W |
| Event Location Airport | Prineville Airport |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3250 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 265 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3070 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| 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) | 15039 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 27 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1437 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, Oregon |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9565A |
| NTSB Number | SEA04LA012 |
| 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 | Garnett-Robert |
| Aircraft Model | Barnett J4B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 91 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1000 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Donald J. Nelson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Prineville |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97754 |
| 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) | Personal |
| 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 | 1427 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2003 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |