- Date
- January 15, 2001, 23:35 local (Jan 16, 2001, 05:35 UTC)
- Place
- North Platte, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2953KLuscombe 8E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report November 1, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20010116004329A
- Case key
- 50936
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 inadvertent ground loop. Factors associated with the accident were the pilot selected the wrong runway on which to land, the quartering tailwind, the icy runway, and the snow bank which the airplane contacted.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane contacted a snow bank and nosed over during landing. The pilot reported that he landed the airplane on runway 12 after hearing another airplane depart from that runway. He reported that during the landing, the airplane contacted "black-ice" on the runway and ground looped. The airplane traveled to the left side of the runway where it contacted a snow bank and nosed over. The pilot reported the local winds at the time of the accident were from 300 degrees at 12 knots. The North Platte Regional Airport weather observation, taken 16 minutes after the accident, reported the winds from 010 degrees at 8 knots.
Factual narrative
On January 15, 2001, at 2335 central standard time, a Luscombe 8E, N2953K, operated by a private pilot, contacted a snow bank and nosed over on landing on runway 12 (8,000 feet by 150 feet) at the North Platte Regional Airport, North Platte, Nebraska. The pilot was not injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated form Ogallala, Nebraska, at 2210 central standard time.
The pilot reported that upon nearing the airport, he heard another pilot announcing his intention to depart the airport on runway 12. The accident pilot performed a 360-degree turn near the airport so that the other airplane could depart prior to him landing. He reported that he thought the departing airplane was a small aircraft and not the "commercial" that it actually was. The pilot reported, "I had reached the frontal boundary and the winds had shifted hence the reason the aircraft was using the 12 as the active runway." The pilot reported he made a left-hand traffic pattern. He reported, "I managed to successfully land the downwind landing only to ground-loop my aircraft after contacting black-ice on runway near end of roll-out on runway 12." The pilot reported the airplane traveled to the left edge of the runway where it contacted a snow bank and nosed over.
The pilot reported the local winds at the time of the accident were from 300 degrees at 12 knots.
The North Platte Regional Airport weather observation, taken 16 minutes after the accident, reported the winds from 010 degrees at 8 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2953K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5680
- Airframe hours
- 2,600
- Engine
- Continental C85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert P. Flannery
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 3, 2000 · 69 hours before
- Departed
- OGA · Ogallala, NE
- Destination
- LBF · North Platte, NE
- Airport
- LBF · North Platte Regional, runway 12, 8,000 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- January 24, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 302 total · 72 in this make and model · 260 as pilot in command · 41 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 10° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 27 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.25 inHg
- Observed at
- LBF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.