Amirkhanian Shahram Charl COMMANDER N393GX

Summary

On 29 January 2013 at about 21:00 local time, a Amirkhanian Shahram Charl COMMANDER registered N393GX, operated by Amirkhanian Shahram C, was involved in an accident near Westminster, Maryland, 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

29 January 2013 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Westminster, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Clearview Airpark (2W2)

Coordinates

39.4503, -77.0172

Aircraft

Amirkhanian Shahram Charl COMMANDER

Registration

N393GX

Category

Gyrocraft

Engines

1

Operator

Amirkhanian Shahram C

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Westminster → Westminster

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13CA122

1 person had minor injuries.

Impact with power lines due to the pilot’s obscured vision due to the low angle of the sun, which prevented the pilot from seeing the lines.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot of the gyroplane, he was practicing aborted takeoffs from a field that had power lines near the practice area and performing 180-degree turns to simulate a return to the runway. He successfully completed one practice maneuver, taking off to the south and making a 180-degree turn to the north. During the second practice maneuver, he took off to the north and began a 180-degree turn to the south. The pilot stated that, immediately after making the turn, the sun obscured his vision for several seconds. The gyroplane then struck a power line, and the pilot pushed the cyclic forward to land in the field. Subsequently, the gyroplane impacted the ground hard, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. At the time of the accident, the angle of the sun was low and directly in the flightpath during the turn. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the gyroplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.