Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wickenburg Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wickenburg, Arizona 85390
Sunday, September 11, 2005 10:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The gyrocopter collided with terrain and rolled over during takeoff. The pilot departed his home field with a 240-pound passenger and full load of fuel. The performance was not good, but the flight was successful. He landed on runway 05 at the destination airport uneventfully. He departed on runway 05 in no wind conditions, and flew in the local area for an hour. When he returned for landing, other aircraft in the pattern were using runway 23, which had a left 90-degree crosswind. He filled the gyrocopter with fuel, and taxied to runway 23. He started to take off and noted that the nose wasn't light. He pulled back on the control stick and the gyrocopter popped up off the ground. He thought that he was behind the power curve and nosed over to gain airspeed. He did gain some airspeed, but the gyrocopter settled to the ground. He pulled back on the control stick to prevent landing on the nose gear. The gyrocopter lost airspeed and rotor speed. It was right of centerline when a gust of wind pushed it forward and to the right. The pilot said that he felt that if he had taken off downhill, the accident would not have happened, and he would have had adequate power and control movement to maintain control. He thought that performance would have been drastically better if he had added 6 gallons of fuel instead of 14 gallons. He felt that he failed to control the gyrocopter and did not consider the problems associated with marginal performance or ways to increase that performance. The pilot said there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to obtain and maintain an adequate airspeed and rotor speed during takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/11/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Wickenburg |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85390 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335808N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1124755W |
| Event Location Airport | WICKENBURG |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E25 |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 951 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19021 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N282SL |
| NTSB Number | LAX05CA295 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Ricardo Lopez |
| Aircraft Model | RAF 2000 GTXSE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RSL 01 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Gyrocraft |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Roberto Lopez |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fountain Hills |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85268 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | E25 |
| Departure City | Wickenburg |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BXK |
| Destination City | Buckeye |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 12 2005 1:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 5050 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |