Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gainesville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gainsville, Texas 76240
Monday, January 28, 2013 17:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was performing initial high-speed taxi tests of his experimental amateur-built gyroplane when it inadvertently became airborne. The pilot then initiated a climb above the runway and continued to fly the airplane to return for landing on the departure runway, which was contrary to the test plan. He did not want to fly past the airport boundary nor any of the hangars on the southeast side of the runway, so he initiated a left turn to crosswind. The gyroplane lost altitude faster than the pilot anticipated and became “low, slow, and behind the power curve” at too low of an altitude to recover. The lower tailboom touched down in a hard landing, which deformed the rudder and tailboom. The rotor was damaged when it contacted the ground.
The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had followed the test plan and landed that gyroplane when it first lifted off. The pilot also stated that a lack of experience in the make and model gyroplane contributed to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to follow his test plan and abort the takeoff after inadvertently lifting off during a high speed taxi test. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of flight experience in the gyroplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/28/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Gainsville |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76240 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333906N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0971150W |
| Event Location Airport | Gainesville Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GLE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 845 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GLE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 256 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| 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) | 32349 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Friend of pilot, Dan Hileman, |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 3 2013 11:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | galm |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4844W |
| NTSB Number | CEN13LA147 |
| 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 | WEBB |
| Aircraft Model | WEBB 2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 |
| 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 28 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 0 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pilot |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Gainsville |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Pilot |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Gainsville |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GLE |
| Departure City | Gainsville |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 743 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GLE |
| Destination City | Gainsville |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 3 2013 11:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | galm |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 6001 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |