- Date
- March 21, 1998, 12:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Jeffersonville, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2648KLuscombe 8E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 10841
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 directional control. The crosswind was a 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 airplane ground looped while landing on runway 18. The pilot reported the engine 'stalled' when he attempted to add power to compensate for the loss of directional control. The airplane traveled off the right side of the runway into a soft grass area. The pilot reported the local winds were from 225 degrees at 10 knots with gusts to 20 knots. Winds reported 17 miles from the accident site were from 300 degrees at 12 knots.
Factual narrative
On March 21, 1998, at 1200 eastern standard time, a Luscombe 8E, N2648K, operated by a private pilot collided with soft terrain following a loss of directional control while landing on runway 18 (5,500'x100') at the Clark County Airport, Jeffersonville, Indiana. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated from a private airstrip approximately 5 miles from the Clark County Airport.
The pilot reported that after touching down the airplane was "overpowered by a wind gust." He reported that he applied power to compensate for the wind, but the "motor stalled." The pilot reported the engine had not warmed up sufficiently to "recover quickly." The airplane ground looped and traveled off the right side of the runway into a soft grass area.
The pilot reported the local winds were from 225 degrees at 10 knots with gusts to 20 knots. The winds reported at Sellersburg, Indiana, 17 miles south of the accident site were from 300 degrees at 12 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2648K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5375
- Airframe hours
- 2,858
- Engine
- Continental C-85, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard E. Dreyer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 5, 1997 · 113 hours before
- Departed
- PVT · Sellersburg, IN
- Destination
- JVY
- Airport
- JVY · Clark County, runway 18, 5,500 × 100 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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 85 total · 75 in this make and model · 61 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SDF, 17 nm away