- Date
- June 30, 1989, 08:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sebewaing, MI
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2154KLuscombe 8A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 22, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890630018859A
- Case key
- 14376
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
Pilot's inattentive aircraft handling which resulted in his failure to detect and prevent the aircraft's descent into the wheat field.
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
While on a local flight with his grandson, the 64 year old pilot flew low over a wheat field to check out the crop. The pilot allowed the aircraft to descend low enough for the main landing gear to get caught in the top of the wheat. The aircraft struck the ground approximately 150 feet from the point of initial contact with the wheat, and nosed over, coming to a rest upside down. The pilot stated that there was no pre-impact problem with the aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2154K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4881
- Airframe hours
- 1,209
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8F, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Koch, Howard
- Registered owner
- Koch, Howard & Helen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 24, 1988 · 11 hours before
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
- 64
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 936 total · 936 in this make and model · 936 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MBS, 30 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.