Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Central Maine Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Norridgewock, Maine 04957
Thursday, July 30, 2009 18:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the gyroplane stated that after takeoff he climbed to pattern altitude and, while on downwind and abeam the runway numbers, he heard a “pop and then experienced a terrible, violent vibration, seemingly catastrophic in nature. There was no power, but the engine was still running.” As he was conducting a forced landing in rough terrain, the wheel and then the main rotor dug into the ground, causing the ship to roll onto its side. The main rotor, mast, landing gear, and horizontal stabilizer sustained damage. Further examination by the pilot revealed that the engine crankshaft was broken near the No. 1 cylinder. The pistons of the non-certified engine had been replaced about 10 operational hours earlier.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to a broken crankshaft for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Norridgewock |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04957 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 444234N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0695135W |
| Event Location Airport | Central Maine Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OWK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 270 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1835 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 260 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| 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) | 27097 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2010 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N179TC |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA438 |
| 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 | Christopher John P |
| Aircraft Model | CHR-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 01 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 575 |
| 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 | May 23 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 104 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Christopher John P |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hill |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03243 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Christopher John P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Hill |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 03243 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OWK |
| Departure City | Norridgewock |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1745 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | OWK |
| Destination City | Norridgewock |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2010 5:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | wilr |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 3999 |
| Runway Width | 90 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |