Webb WEBB 2 N4844W

Summary

On 28 January 2013 at about 23:45 local time, a Webb WEBB 2 registered N4844W was involved in an accident near Gainsville, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 January 2013 at 23:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Gainsville, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE)

Coordinates

33.6517, -97.1972

Aircraft

Webb WEBB 2

Registration

N4844W

Category

Gyrocraft

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gainsville → Gainsville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN13LA147

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to follow his test plan and abort the takeoff after inadvertently lifting off during a high speed taxi test. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of flight experience in the gyroplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was performing initial high-speed taxi tests of his experimental amateur-built gyroplane when it inadvertently became airborne. The pilot then initiated a climb above the runway and continued to fly the airplane to return for landing on the departure runway, which was contrary to the test plan. He did not want to fly past the airport boundary nor any of the hangars on the southeast side of the runway, so he initiated a left turn to crosswind. The gyroplane lost altitude faster than the pilot anticipated and became "low, slow, and behind the power curve" at too low of an altitude to recover. The lower tailboom touched down in a hard landing, which deformed the rudder and tailboom. The rotor was damaged when it contacted the ground. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had followed the test plan and landed that gyroplane when it first lifted off. The pilot also stated that a lack of experience in the make and model gyroplane contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.