Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Scappoose Industrial Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Scappoose, Oregon 97056
Saturday, August 31, 2013 13:57 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot intended to perform a series of high-speed taxi tests and “crow hops” in the single-seat gyroplane. During the first test, the gyroplane lifted off and climbed to about 30 feet. After flying about half the length of the runway, the pilot reduced engine power for landing, appeared to encounter control difficulties, and then applied power and initiated a go-around. The gyroplane continued to climb and joined the crosswind and then downwind legs of the traffic pattern. As the gyroplane approached the base leg, it rolled aggressively to the left in a nose-high attitude and then rapidly descended to the ground in an uncontrolled manner. Most of the gyroplane’s structure was consumed by postimpact fire. Examination of the remaining engine, rotor, and flight control system components did not reveal any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Witness marks indicated that the engine was producing power during the descent. Damage to the rotor system indicated that the main rotor blades diverged greatly from their track during flight, striking both the forward cabin structure and the engine driven propeller. The student pilot had very limited flight experience and began his flight training in a fixed wing airplane the year prior. He was not approved for and had not conducted solo flight in the accident gyroplane or any other aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot's unintentional takeoff followed by his failure to maintain control of the gyroplane during the landing approach. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot’s lack of both flight training and flight experience and his lack of a solo endorsement.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1357 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Scappoose |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97056 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 454554N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225149W |
| Event Location Airport | SCAPPOOSE INDUSTRIAL AIRPARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SPB |
| 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 | 192 |
| Airport Elevation | 58 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 192 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSPB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 58 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSPB 312053Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 29/12 A29 |
| 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) | 33297 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NW FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 9 2014 7:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sime1 |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43259 |
| NTSB Number | WPR13FA393 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | STUART |
| Aircraft Model | VORTEX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 058 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 760 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LAFAYETTE JAMES R |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kalama |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98606 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | LAFAYETTE JAMES R |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Kalama |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98606 |
| 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 | SPB |
| Departure City | Scappoose |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SPB |
| Destination City | Scappoose |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 14 2014 7:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 5100 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |