Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ridgely Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ridgely, Maryland 21660
Sunday, November 5, 2006 11:35 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was practicing an air show routine. After making a number of low passes, then landing, he took off again. The gyroplane then made another approach, paralleled the runway, and made a shallow descent to about 60 to 75 feet. The pilot maintained that altitude and heading for a few seconds, then initiated a 45-degree climb followed by an "immediate" right turn. During the turn, the rotor blade sound changed from a high pitch, to a "Bell Huey" sound. The gyroplane then made a "pronounced roll" to the right and descended to the ground. Postaccident examination of the gyroplane revealed no evidence of any preimpact failure, and there was no evidence of the rotor blades having struck the rudder, horizontal stabilizer or winglets. The rotor hub and rotor blades exhibited evidence of upward coning, consistent with the rotor blades having lost rigidity due to low rpm.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain rotor rpm while maneuvering, which resulted in a loss of rotor blade rigidity.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/5/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1135 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Ridgely |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 21660 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385812N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0755200W |
| Event Location Airport | Ridgely Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RJD |
| 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 | 64 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1124 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ESN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 72 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.57 |
| 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) | 22167 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 6 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baltimore |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N107TM |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA022 |
| 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 | Monard |
| Aircraft Model | RAF 2000 GTX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | H2-02-13-530 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1540 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 180 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James T. Monard |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ridgely |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21660 |
| 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 | RJD |
| Departure City | Ridgely |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2007 6:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 3214 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |