- Date
- September 22, 1989, 12:04 local (19:04 UTC)
- Place
- Palo Alto, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6101SAir & Space 18A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890922035809A
- Case key
- 26506
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
Improper planning/decision by the instructor pilot (CFI), which resulted in a loss of control as the gyroplane went into ground resonance.
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 certified flight instructor (CFI) reported that his student had just attempted a take off at Palo Alto airport on runway 30. The student was unable to maintain directional control, and the gyroplane went off the runway onto a nearby service road without becoming airborne. The instructor then decided to make the take off himself from the service road. He said that he accelerated the rotor speed to 350 RPM before depressing the take off button, & once the take off button was depressed, the gyroplane became airborne. Reportedly it reached an altitude of two to three feet, then settled back to the ground & entered ground resonance. The instructor said he was unable to maintain control, and that they were then 'along for the ride.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6101S
- Reported as
- Air & Space 18A
- Category
- Gyroplane
- Serial number
- 18-7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Pegasus Rotorcraft
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- PAO · Palo Alto, runway 30, 2,500 × 75 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
- 51
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 3,073 total · 293 in this make and model · 2,659 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N6101S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.