- Date
- May 16, 1998, 16:47 local (20:47 UTC)
- Place
- Rensselaer, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4062HButler Tool RAF 2000
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980516009669A
- Case key
- 10886
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 excessively flared the gyroplane during the landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot reported he made a 'normal' approach to runway 27. He reported that he had 'too much flare' during the landing and the gyroplane got into a nose high attitude. According to the pilot, the rotor blades then contacted the ground. The gyroplane then touched down hard and rolled over.
Factual narrative
On May 16, 1998, at 1647 eastern daylight time, a Butler Tool RAF 2000, N4062H, operated by a private pilot rolled over following a loss of control while landing at the Jasper County Airport, Rensselaer, Indiana. The pilot was not injured. The gyroplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated from the Jasper County Airport, at 1630 edt.
The pilot reported he made a "normal" approach to runway 27. He reported that he had "too much flare" during the landing and the gyroplane got into a nose high attitude. According to the pilot, the rotor blades then contacted the ground. The gyroplane then touched down hard and rolled over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4062H
- Reported as
- Butler Tool RAF 2000
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- H2-93-4-92
- Airframe hours
- 192
- Engine
- Subaru EJ22, 130 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James A. Butler
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 16, 1998 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- RZL
- Airport
- RZL · Jasper County, runway 27, 2,000 × 150 ft, grass/turf
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 388 total · 168 in this make and model · 388 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAF, 37 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.