- Date
- May 9, 2008, 21:00 local (May 10, 2008, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dickinson, ND
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N610RDKuntz Kuntz 2000 GTS EFI
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: VFR encounter with IMC
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Fargo FSDO
- FAA report
- 20080509839079A
- Case key
- 68168
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 inadequate preflight weather evaluation and the unsuitable terrain encountered during the precautionary landing at night. Contributing to the accident was the pilot becoming lost after inadvertently encountering fog while en route, the night lighting conditions, and the fence that the gyrocopter impacted during the landing rollout.
Findings · 6
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 ground visibility was about 4 miles at the time of his departure. The intended destination was the pilot's farm, located about 17 miles northwest of the departure airport. While en route, about 2 miles from the intended destination, the airplane encountered fog and the pilot decided to return to the departure airport. The pilot stated that he "lost direction" and performed a precautionary landing in a field. During the landing rollout the gyrocopter impacted a fence and nosed over. The vertical fin, rudder, horizontal stabilizer, rotor head, rotor blades, and propeller were damaged. The weather conditions at the departure airport were visibility 4 miles with mist, broken ceiling at 200 feet above ground level (agl), overcast ceiling at 2,800 feet agl, temperature 4 degrees Celsius, and dew point 3 degrees Celsius. The accident occurred at night, about 12 minutes after civil twilight had ended. The pilot noted that the accident could have been prevented if he had called a neighbor prior to departure to determine what the actual weather conditions were near his intended destination.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that the ground visibility was about 4 miles at the time of his departure. The intended destination was the pilot's farm, located about 17 miles northwest of the departure airport. While en route, about 2 miles from the intended destination, the airplane encountered fog and the pilot decided to return to the departure airport. The pilot stated that he "lost direction" and performed a precautionary landing in a field. During landing rollout the gyrocopter impacted a fence and nosed over. The vertical fin, rudder, horizontal stabilizer, rotor head, rotor blades, and propeller were damaged. The weather conditions at the departure airport were visibility 4 miles with mist, broken ceiling at 200 feet above ground level (agl), overcast ceiling at 2,800 feet agl, temperature 4 degrees Celsius, and dew point 3 degrees Celsius. The accident occurred at night, about 12 minutes after civil twilight had ended. The pilot noted that the accident could have been prevented if he had called a neighbor prior to departure to determine what the actual weather conditions were near his intended destination.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N610RD
- Reported as
- Kuntz Kuntz 2000 GTS EFI
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 495
- Airframe hours
- 230
- Engine
- Subaru EJ25, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · September 1, 2007
- Departed
- DIK · Dickinson, ND
- Destination
- PVT
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
- 49
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2007
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 515 total · 398 in this make and model · 461 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night
- Wind
- 50° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft broken
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.82 inHg
- Observed at
- DIK, 10 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.