Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marysville, California 95901
Sunday, April 29, 2007 12:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight, witnesses in several different locations reported hearing a loud "pop" emanate from the gyrocopter and then it spiraled to the ground in a nose down attitude. One witness reported that the gyrocopter's nose was pushed up after it was struck by a gust of wind. He watched as the pilot corrected the pitch attitude by pushing the nose down. He then saw the gyrocopter tilting back and forth. A friend of the pilot, who is also the gyrocopter kit manufacturer, reported that he and the pilot had performed a pitch change adjustment to the main rotor system that was about 1/4 inch out of track. After the adjustment was made, the friend test flew the gyrocopter with no problems encountered. The gyrocopter was constructed of a tandem seat configuration fuselage with tricycle landing gear, a two-bladed teetering main rotor system, a rear mounted engine with a three-bladed propeller assembly, followed by a rudder, and vertical and horizontal stabilizers. An inspection of the gyrocopter by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and the gyrocopter kit manufacturer revealed that only about 5 percent of the wooden three-bladed propeller remained affixed to the propeller hub. Reconstruction of the recovered propeller material found that one of the propeller blades had a deep concave deformity at the leading edge approximately 10 inches from the root. No evidence of propeller blade or main rotor blade to airframe contact was found, and the investigation could not explain the origin of the propeller blade defect nor its relationship to the accident's causation, if any. Toxicological tests revealed the presence in the blood of zolpidem (a prescription sleep aid) at a level consistent with very recent use, and very high blood levels of hydrocodone (a prescription narcotic painkiller), and diphenhydramine (an over-the-counter antihistamine). All three medications would have been expected to result in impairment of judgment and psychomotor skills. The pilot's ability to operate the gyrocopter with the levels of substances found suggests a substantial tolerance to their sedative effects, implying a long-term use of high doses. The pilot had not held a current FAA medical certificate in over 25 years.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An in-flight loss of control for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the impairment of the pilot by the drug substances identified in the toxicological testing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/29/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Marysville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95901 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1213419W |
| 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 | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MYV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 62 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| 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) | 23679 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 29 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| 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 | N445SM |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA142 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonald |
| Aircraft Model | J4B-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1394-2 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1085 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stanley J. McDonald |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fresno |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93720 |
| 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 | MYV |
| Departure City | Marysville |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MYV |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 22 2008 11:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |