Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cawley South Prairie Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South Prairie, Washington 98321
Saturday, May 9, 2009 14:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that during takeoff initial climb from the uncontrolled airport, at 50 feet above ground level, he heard the sound of an airplane coming towards him from the left and saw a shadow of the airplane on the ground merging with his, and initiated an abrupt turn of 90 degrees to the right to avoid a collision. Upon completion of the turn, the pilot noticed that he had lost a significant amount of airspeed and was heading toward a residential structure. The pilot initiated a second turn to the right to miss the house and attempted to regain airspeed. Subsequently, the gyroplane impacted terrain adjacent to the runway. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the flight control system or engine prior to the accident. A witness located adjacent to the accident site reported that another aircraft was apparently making a high-speed pass over the runway and overflew the gyroplane as it was taking off.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's abrupt maneuver to avoid a collision that resulted in an airspeed reduction and subsequent loss of lift provided by the rotor system. Contributing to the accident was the failure of both pilots to maintain an adequate visual lookout for other aircraft in the traffic pattern.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/9/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | South Prairie |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98321 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 470908N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1220538W |
| Event Location Airport | Cawley South Prairie |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 02WA |
| 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 | 690 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2100 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PLU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 538 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25538 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 20 2009 12:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1435X |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA232 |
| 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 | ATKINS JOHN |
| Aircraft Model | RAF 2000 G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | H2-00-11-450 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1550 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 7 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 381 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROGERS RANDALL H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MAPLE VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98038-8007 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ROGERS RANDALL H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MAPLE VALLEY |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98038-8007 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | 02WA |
| Departure City | South Prairie |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | S50 |
| Destination City | Auburn |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2009 5:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 2400 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |