- Date
- December 10, 2020, 12:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Manvel, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2238KLuscombe 8
- Defining event
- Approach: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Case key
- 102403
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from power lines during his attempted landing and his loss of situational awareness that led to him to misidentify a pipeline field for the landing airpark.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
A witness reported that he saw the airplane takeoff from the airpark and fly a left traffic pattern. The airplane disappeared behind a tree line after lining up on a pipeline easement northeast of the airport. The witness then reported a bright flash from a power line, and he responded to the accident scene. He observed the airplane resting inverted in the field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the forward fuselage. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector responded to the accident site. The inspector reported that the airplane struck a set of power lines and crashed in a pipeline field about seven-tenths of a mile from the airpark. The owner of the property adjacent to the field told the inspector that he witnessed the airplane hit the power lines and that the airplane appeared to be attempting to land in the field. The witness reported that since the accident he has spoken with the pilot on multiple occasions and the pilot has no memory of the crash or the events leading to the accident. However, in his statement to the FAA inspector, the witness reported the pilot telling him several times that he was on final approach to the runway when he hit the power lines.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2238K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8 (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4965
- Built
- 1947
- Engine
- Continental C90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 3T2 · Manvel, TX
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Equipment
- Unknown
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 0
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Remote, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KLVJ, 4 nm away
- METAR
- KLVJ 100653Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 09/07 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP192 T00940067
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 31, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 MB in all.