- Date
- October 4, 1993, 18:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Benton, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N801BLuscombe 8F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19931004037839A
- Case key
- 9409
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 failure of the student pilot to maintain directional control and proper runway alignment during the landing roll. The proximity of the ditch to the runway was a related factor.
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 student pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings. During a landing roll, the airplane began to drift to the right. The student attempted to correct the drift with left rudder, but got his foot caught on the heel brake. The airplane departed the runway to the left. As the student tried to get the airplane back on the runway, it struck a ditch and nosed-over.
Factual narrative
On October 4, 1993, at 1800 central daylight time, a Luscombe 8F, N801B, sustained substantial damage when it departed runway 16 during landing roll, hit a ditch, and nosed-over, at the Benton Airport, Benton, Kansas. The solo student pilot was not injured. No flight plan was filed, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The pilot reported he was practicing touch-and-go landings. During the landing roll, the airplane began to drift to the right. He said he attempted to correct the drift with left rudder, but his left heel got caught on the heel brake and the airplane departed the runway. When he attempted to get the airplane back on the runway it hit a small ditch and nosed-over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N801B
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 6731
- Engine
- Continental C-90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Arthur W. Johnson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Special, Limited (Special)
- Departed
- 1K1
- Destination
- 1K1
- Airport
- 1K1 · Benton Muni, runway 16, 2,600 × 40 ft, asphalt
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
- 19
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12 total · 12 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ICT, 20 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.