- Date
- November 10, 2013, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lubbock, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N130SWGroen Sparrowhawk II
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 13, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Lubbock FSDO
- FAA report
- 20131110024909A
- Case key
- 88440
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 attain a proper glidepath for landing which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 2
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 pilot reported that the gyroplane was too high and too slow during the landing approach. The gyroplane landed hard and the landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the main rotor blades and the tail boom. The pilot reported that there was no malfunction or system failure of the gyroplane before the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that the gyroplane was too high and too slow during the landing approach. The gyroplane landed hard and the landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the main rotor blades and the tail boom. The pilot reported that there was no malfunction or system failure of the gyroplane before the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N130SW
- Reported as
- Groen Sparrowhawk II
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- S0200010
- Built
- 2007
- Engine
- Subaru EJ2.5, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Glenn Davis
- Registered owner
- Glenn Davis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 9, 2013 · 1,123 hours before
- Departed
- F49 · Slaton, TX
- Destination
- F82 · Lubbock, TX
- Airport
- F82 · Lubbock Executive, runway 17, 3,500 × 70 ft, asphalt
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- October 20, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 117 total · 27 in this make and model · 53 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- LBB, 20 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 6, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.