| Crash location | 40.365833°N, 80.700000°W |
| Nearest city | Wintersville, OH
40.375346°N, 80.703689°W 0.7 miles away |
| Tail number | N9071H |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 24 Dec 2005 |
| Aircraft type | Carpenter Raf 2000 |
| Additional details: | None |
On December 24, 2005, about 1615 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur-built Carpenter RAF 2000 gyrocopter, N9071H, operated by an unlicensed pilot sustained substantial damage when the aircraft impacted terrain during a landing on runway 32 at the Jefferson County Airpark (2G2), near Wintersville, Ohio. The personal flight was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was on file. The pilot reported no injuries. The local flight originated at 2G2 about 1530.
The pilot's accident report stated:
Flew pattern a few times. Came in for landing ok. I took off again
and flew around airport pattern. Came in for a landing. I hit a gust
of wind. It pushed me up [and] sideways. I tried to land and hit the
runway sideways and turned over.
At 1553, the recorded weather at the Wheeling Ohio County Airport, near Wheeling, West Virginia, was: Wind 200 degrees at 7 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; sky condition clear; temperature 12 degrees C; dew point -4 degrees C; altimeter 29.79 inches of mercury.
The pilot did not report his accumulated flight times in his accident report. The pilot's safety recommendation was, "More training would have prevented this accident."
The pilot not maintaining aircraft control during the landing. A factor was the reported wind gust.