Air Command 582 UNREG

Summary

On 1 October 2014, a Air Command 582 registered UNREG was involved in an accident near Monongahela, Pennsylvania, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 October 2014

Classification

Accident

Location

Monongahela, Pennsylvania, United States

Nearest airport

Rostraver (FWQ)

Coordinates

40.2122, -79.8222

Aircraft

Air Command 582

Registration

UNREG

Category

Gyrocraft

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Monongahela → Monongahela

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Not Reported

NTSB number

ERA15LA001

1 person died.

The amateur-built gyroplane’s collision with terrain for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to conduct the flight without obtaining additional training.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

A witness saw the unregistered, amateur-built gyroplane flying in the airport traffic pattern. When the gyroplane pilot could not be located by friends later that day, a search was initiated, and the wreckage was subsequently located in an area of vegetation about 750 ft from the runway. Examination of the airframe revealed no evidence of any obvious mechanical deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation, and during a postaccident test run, the engine ran with no anomalies noted. Although the pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating, he did not hold a rotorcraft-gyroplane rating. About 2 months before the accident, he sought flight training from a gyroplane flight instructor, and after that 1-day training session, he received an endorsement to conduct solo gyroplane operations on and just above the ground. The endorsement did not allow the pilot to fly in and around the airport traffic pattern solo. In the 2 months leading up to the accident flight, the pilot's logbook documented several flights consistent with adhering to the endorsement's limitations; however, beginning about 1 week before the flight, the entries showed that the pilot likely conducted flight maneuvers inconsistent with the endorsement's limitations. Although the specific circumstances about the accident could not be determined, the pilot's inexperience and failure to obtain additional training to get his authorization for additional flight operations in the accident aircraft type likely contributed to the outcome.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.