- Date
- August 15, 2010, 13:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Brighton, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N36MRClem William B III Dominator Gyrocopter
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 7, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 77243
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the gyroplane during landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The private pilot was preparing to land his gyroplane when he encountered a downdraft, which increased his rate of descent. The pilot was unable to arrest the descent rate and landed hard. As a result the left main gear axle broke, causing the lower rudder strut to contact the ground. The strut bent upwards into the propeller, splintering the propeller and causing substantial damage to the rudder. The pilot reported that the downdraft was caused by an 80-degree crosswind that blew over houses just to the northeast of the runway threshold. The pilot did not report any mechanical deficiencies with the gyroplane prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
The private pilot was preparing to land his gyroplane when he encountered a downdraft, which increased his rate of descent. The pilot was unable to arrest the descent rate and landed hard. As a result, the left main gear axle broke causing the lower rudder strut to contact the ground. The strut bent upwards into the propeller, splintering the propeller and causing substantial damage to approximately 12 inches of the 68-inch-long rudder. The pilot reported that the downdraft was caused by an 80-degree crosswind that blew over houses just to the northeast of the runway threshold. The pilot did not report any mechanical deficiencies with the gyroplane prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N36MR
- Reported as
- Clem William B III Dominator Gyrocopter
- Category
- Gyroplane
- Serial number
- Y-001
- Engine
- reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Clem William B III
- Registered owner
- Clem William B III
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- C)12 · Brighton, CO
- Destination
- C)12 · Brighton, CO
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- C)12 · Brighton, runway 30
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 587 total · 468 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 23, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 734 KB in all.