Kuntz KUNTZ 2000 GTS EFI N610RD

Summary

On 10 May 2008 at about 03:00 local time, a Kuntz KUNTZ 2000 GTS EFI registered N610RD was involved in an accident near Dickinson, North Dakota, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 May 2008 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Dickinson, North Dakota, United States

Coordinates

46.8861, -102.7828

Aircraft

Kuntz KUNTZ 2000 GTS EFI

Registration

N610RD

Category

Gyrocraft

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dickinson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CHI08CA131

1 person had minor injuries.

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB 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 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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.