Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Johns Island, South Carolina 29466
Sunday, December 10, 2006 16:29 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated he conducted a preflight inspection and no anomalies were noted and the gyro copter had about 5 gallons of fuel on board when he departed. The pilot departed and flew to an area located southeast of the airport at 500 feet AGL, and conducted some performance checks of the gyrocopter. Once the checks were completed, the pilot continued his flight above the Bohicket River. While in cruise flight the engine quit. The pilot turned on the fuel boost pump and attempted an engine restart. The engine started and quit again. The pilot switched fuel tanks, attempted another engine restart with negative results, and initiated an emergency descent to the river. The gyrocopter rolled over on its left side and started to sink. The pilot waited until the gyrocopter was submerged in the water, and the rotor blades had stopped turning, before he unbuckled his seat belt and exited the gyrocopter. The pilot came to the surface, swam over to the marsh area, and exited the water. A witness, who is also a helicopter pilot, stated that she heard an aircraft approaching her location and observed the gyrocopter in straight and level flight above the Bohicket River traveling toward the ocean between 75 to 100 feet AGL. The witness heard a change in engine noise as if the gyrocopter had run out of fuel, or had water in the fuel tank. The engine quit, started, and quit again. The gyrocopter entered a descent and made a forced landing to the river. The Sheriff's Department arrived at the witness' home and used her boatlift to recover the gyrocopter from the river onto her boat dock. No smell of fuel was present nor was any fuel observed draining from the gyrocopter during the recovery. Examination of the gyrocopter fuel system revealed that the seat fuel tank, and that the left and right auxiliary fuel tanks were not ruptured and no water was present. All three fuel filler caps were intact with a tight zeal. No fuel was present in the seat fuel tank. The left auxiliary fuel tank had one eighth of an inch of fuel in the fuel tank, and the right auxiliary fuel tank had one and one-quarter inch of fuel in the fuel tank. The inline fuel filter was removed and no fuel or water was present. The fuel selector was in the seat fuel tank position. The fuel selector was moved to the "side" position and about one ounce of fuel was collected, and no water was present. The carburetor bowl was removed and less than one ounce of water was present. The ignition system was examined. The distributor cap was crushed during recovery. The ignition harness was not damaged. The propeller was reinstalled and turned by hand. Valve and drive train continuity was observed, and compression and suction was obtained on all cylinders. The engine oil plug was removed, oil and water were drained from the oil sump, and other than the water, no contaminants were present. The oil filter was removed and no contaminants were present. The air filter was removed and no anomalies were noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots improper preflight planning and decision resulting in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/10/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1629 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Johns Island |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29466 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324026N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800036W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCHS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 46 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| 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 | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| 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) | 30.43 |
| 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) | 21199 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 11 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia FSDO-13 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7030T |
| NTSB Number | ATL07LA026 |
| 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 | Ridgway |
| Aircraft Model | Bensen B8M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | JR000 |
| 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 | 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 | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jack J. Ridgway |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 342 Pebblebeach Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lakehills |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78063 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | James M. Phillips |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1463 Brownswood Road |
| Operator City | Johns Island |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29466 |
| 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 | KJZI |
| Departure City | Charleston |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1609 |
| 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 | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2007 12:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |