Ashland Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ashland, Kentucky 41183
Tuesady, October 2, 2007 18:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot he was conducting touch and go landings. During the landing flare the nose of the gyroplane drifted to the right. The pilot reported that he was not able to compensate for the winds. The gyroplane impacted the runway with the left landing gear followed by the right landing gear. The gyroplane bounced and impacted the runway again, coming to rest on its side, resulting in minor damage. The pilot sustained serious injuries. The pilot reported winds 90 degrees to the runway at 10 to 15 miles per hour. An examination of the gyroplane's structure and systems revealed minor damage and no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the landing flare resulting in a hard landing. Contributing factors were the crosswind and the pilot's failure to recover from a bounced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/2/2007
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1815
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Ashland
Event State KENTUCKY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 41183
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 383316N
Event Location Longitude 0824401W
Event Location Airport Ashland Regional Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DWU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 546
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1751 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KHTS
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
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) 30.09
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22579
NTSB Notification Source NTSB - Northeast Region, Parsi
NTSB Notification Date Oct 3 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 29 2007 8:02AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA Louisville Flight Standards District Office

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N444PD
NTSB Number DEN08CA001
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Degelia
Aircraft Model Rotor Flight Dynamic
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number PD-1
Certified Max Gross Weight 672
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 68
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name On File
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Ashland
Aircraft Owner State KY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 41101
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 KDWU
Departure City Ashland
Departure State KY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KDWU
Destination City Ashland
Destination State KY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 2 2007 9:49AM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 28
Runway Length 5602
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --