# Accident 19981128032389A: Amtr RAF2000, Caddo Mills, TX, November 28, 1998

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 28, 1998, 15:00 local time
- Place: Caddo Mills, TX
- Airport: Caddo Mills Municipal Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.0903° N, 96.8796° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.0903&lon=-96.8796&mi=10
- Aircraft: N14GR, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N14GR-2017-05-15) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Blanton W George RAF 2000 GYROPLANE (registry code 05604WE, https://openairdocs.org/model/blanton-w-george-raf-2000-gyroplane) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Subaru ALL MDLS A/B (registry code 59050, https://openairdocs.org/engine/subaru-all-mdls-a-b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AMTR RAF2000
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB FTW99FA038](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW99FA038) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19981128032389A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ACFT REPORTEDLY CAME APART IN THE AIR BEFORE CRASHING. (.19) ON NOVEMBER 28, 1998, AT 1500 CENTRAL STANDARD TIME, A BLANTON RAF 2000 EXPERIMENTAL AMATEUR BUILT GYROPLANE, N14GR, WAS DESTROYED FOLLOWING A LOSS OF CONTROL WHILE MANEUVERING NEAR THE COLONY, TEXAS. THE PILOT, WHO WAS THE REGISTERED OWNER AND OPERATOR, SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED FOR THE TITLE 14 CFR PART 91 PERSONAL FLIGHT. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM THE CADDO MILLS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, CADDO MILLS, TEXAS, AT 1430. TWO GYROPLANE PILOTS REPORTED THAT THE PILOT PLANNED TO FLY THE GYROPLANE TO THE PROPWASH AIRPORT, LOCATED NEAR FORT WORTH, TEXAS. THE THREE GYROPLANES DEPARTED THE AIRPORT AND THE PILOT'S STATED THAT THEY KEPT EACH OTHER IN SIGHT FOR THE FIRST 30 MILES OF THE FLIGHT. BOTH PILOTS REPORTED THAT THE LAST TIME THEY OBSERVED THE ACCIDENT GYROPLANE IT WAS FLYING ALONG THE NORTHERN PERIMETER OF LAKE LAVON IN A SOUTHWESTERLY DIRECTION. BOTH PILOTS STATED THAT THE WIND WAS BLOWING FROM THE "SOUTH AT 20 KNOTS AND WAS GUSTY." ONE PILOT ADDED THAT HE ENCOUNTERED A GUST WHICH HE ESTIMATES WAS APPROXIMATELY "50 KNOTS". A WITNESS, WHO IS APPROXIMATELY    SEVEN YEARS OF AGE, STATED THAT SHE WAS PLAYING OUTSIDE WHEN SHE HEARD THE AIRCRAFT. SHE OBSERVED THE GYROPLANE FLYING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH OVER HACKBERRY ROAD, THE COLONY, TEXAS. SHE STATED THAT "PIECES OF THE AIRCRAFT AND SMOKE WERE COMING FROM THE AIRCRAFT." THE GRYROPLANE WAS FOUND IN A FIELD, 800 FEET SOUTH OF HACKBERRY ROAD. A POST-IMPACT FIRE CONSUMED THE GYROPLANE.(-23) GYROCOPTER APPEARS TO HAVE BROKEN UP IN FLIGHT. POSSIBLE MAIN ROTOR BLADE FAILURE. THE BLADE STRUCK TAIL FIN AND SCATTERED PIECES OVER A WIDE AREA BEFORE STRIKING THE GROUND.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB FTW99FA038](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW99FA038), Nov 28, 1998: Blanton RAF 2000 (N14GR), The Colony, TX, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's failure to maintain control of the gyroplane during cruise flight. A factor was the gusty wind condition.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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