Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Yuba City, California 95991
Saturday, February 21, 2004 13:55 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The gyrocopter collided with the ground in an uncontrolled descent following a loss of engine power. This was the second test flight for the gyrocopter. A witness reported that the gyrocopter flew overhead at 50 feet, with the engine sputtering. It then entered a steep descent and impacted a dry riverbed about 45 yards away. At the wreckage site, approximately 1/2 tank of fuel was present. No fuel was found in either of the two carburetors. The blades of the pusher propeller, made of carbon fiber and foam filled, were displaced from the gyrocopter and displayed cracks on the surfaces, but were otherwise intact. The main rotor was bent downward and had impacted the gear ring on the main drive shaft. The Rotax 582 engine contained oil and was rotated. The tachometer time indicated a total engine operation time of 12.2 hours. Post accident inspection of the gyrocopter revealed that a vacuum line to the pneumatic fuel pump, which is made of a soft and easily collapsible nylon reinforced vinyl material, was kinked at a 45-degree angle at its attachment fitting. The pilot had a total gyrocopter flight time of 11 hours and this was the second test flight for this gyrocopter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of engine power due to the incorrect installation of the fuel line, which resulted in fuel starvation, and the pilot's failure to maintain rotor RPM, which resulted in an inflight loss of control. A factor to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience flying gyrocopters.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/21/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1355 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Yuba City |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95991 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390725N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1213619W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1425 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MYV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1425 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 17007 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 21 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SAC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N96XV |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA132 |
| 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 | Gillespie |
| Aircraft Model | Sport Copter Vortex |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 096 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gregory Gillespie |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Nevada City |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95959 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 052 |
| Departure City | Sutter County |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 26 2004 5:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | RICJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |