Amateur-built MODEL 1 accident near Olney, Texas, December 13, 2000
On December 13, 2000 at about 11:00 pm local time, a amateur-built MODEL 1 (gyroplane), registered N121CC, was substantially damaged in an accident near Olney, Texas (Olney Airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's delay in lowering the collective during a run-on landing, which resulted in a runway overrun. A factor was the muddy terrain.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 13, 2000 · about 11:00 pm local time
- Place
- Olney, Texas · Olney Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built MODEL 1
- Registration
- N121CC · registry record · serial 001
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot was performing a short test flight in an experimental prototype gyroplane. After a low level, low airspeed flight down runway centerline, the pilot executed a run-on landing at 30 MPH about 300 feet from the departure end of the runway. The aircraft slowed to about 20 MPH as it rolled off of the runway surface, and onto a muddy field. Subsequently, the nose landing gear collapsed, allowing a 4-foot x 4-foot long section of nose boom to dig into the mud. The aircraft then pitched down about the nose as the main rotor impacted the ground. After the rotor impact, the aircraft rolled to the right, and the right wing impacted the ground. The aircraft sustained structural damage to the right wing, rudder, and main rotor. Skid marks, found about 150 feet forward of the original touch down point, and correlating to the aircraft's landing gear/tires, were observed on the runway. The designer and manufacturer of the prototype, monitored the entire flight with on-board parameter recording devices. These data suggested that the pilot did not lower the collective enough for the brakes to be effective.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: helicopter; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: gyroplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 5,400 hours in all; 5 in this make and model; 36 in the last 90 days; 15 in the last 30 days; 3,752 as pilot in command; 450 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 85 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, December 12, 2000; 2 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,500 lb
- Seats: 5
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Gm LS 1 CORVETTE (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ONY at 10:59 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 22, 5,098 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 6 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N121CC the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.