- Date
- September 15, 2002, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Prineville, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N25069Eells Air Command 503
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 8, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020915023549A
- Case key
- 55705
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 student pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in a hard 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 student pilot reported that he flew the gyroplane down to about 11 feet above the runway surface for landing. He then pulled the control stick back to level the aircraft. The student pilot stated that the aircraft ballooned a little so he pushed the stick forward. At this point, the aircraft was about 12 feet above the runway and it began to rapidly descend. The student pilot applied power to arrest the sink rate, however, the rotor speed had decayed and the aircraft landed hard with no forward airspeed. After touchdown, the aircraft bounced and tilted to the left. The rotors contacted the runway surface and the aircraft came to rest on its left side. The student pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the aircraft at the time.
Factual narrative
On September 15, 2002, about 0930 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Air Command 503 gyrocopter, N25069, registered to a private individual and operated by a student pilot as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, landed hard and bounced at the Prineville Airport, Prineville, Oregon. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The gyrocopter was substantially damaged and the student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured.
The student pilot reported that he flew the aircraft down to about 11 feet above ground level over the runway for landing. He then pulled the control stick back to level the aircraft. The student pilot stated that the aircraft ballooned a little so he pushed the stick forward. At this point, the aircraft was about 12 feet above the runway and began to rapidly descend. The student pilot applied power to arrest the sink rate, however, the rotor speed had decayed and the aircraft landed hard with no forward airspeed. After touchdown, the aircraft bounced and tilted to the left. The rotors contacted the runway surface and the aircraft came to rest on its left side.
The student pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the aircraft at the time.
The student pilot reported a total flight time in all aircraft (gyrocopter) of 46.2 hours. A total of 19.8 hours were accumulated as pilot-in command.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N25069
- Reported as
- Eells Air Command 503
- Category
- Gyroplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1D188
- Airframe hours
- 92
- Engine
- Rotax 503 ULDCDI, 52 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Belinda C. Eells
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 2002 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- S39 · Prineville, OR
- Destination
- S39
- Airport
- S39 · Prineville, runway 28, 5,000 × 60 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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 46 total · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.