Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pierce Co./Thun Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Puyallup, Washington 98372
Thursday, February 3, 2005 10:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that he had approximately 1,800 hours of flight experience in helicopters, and was a flight instructor for the army. He was adding the gyroplane rating. He had 13 hours of training, and this was his first solo flight. He said that on his third landing, he was performing a power off 180 degree landing. He said that he flared one to two feet higher than planned, and he added a little power to "smooth out" the touchdown. When the power came in, the engine torque rotated the nose of the gyroplane to the right. The right main gear hit the ground, and the aircraft bounced back and fourth on its main landing gear. Subsequently, the gyroplane rolled onto its right side bending its blades, mast, and horizontal and vertical stabilizer.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudged flare followed by an oscillation which damaged the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/3/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Puyallup |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98372 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 470615N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221714W |
| Event Location Airport | Pierce Co./Thun Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1S0 |
| 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 | 538 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TCM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 373 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| 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) | 30.32 |
| 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) | 18057 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 3 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle, WA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N26AV |
| NTSB Number | SEA05LA044 |
| 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 | Smuz |
| Aircraft Model | RAF 2000 GTX SE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | H2-97-8-297 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1550 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 349 |
| Airframe Hours | 413 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Latah, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 16713 Maplewild Ave. SW |
| Aircraft Owner City | Seattle |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98166 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S5O |
| Departure City | Auburn |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 1SO |
| Destination City | Puyallup |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 6:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 3650 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |