- Date
- June 9, 2001, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Longmont, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1614KLuscombe 8E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 20, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20010609015879A
- Case key
- 52484
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 during landing. A contributing factor was the tailwind.
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 pilot was returning from a student solo cross-country flight. The airplane landed and as soon as the wheels touched down, it veered off the left side of the runway and crossed the median, which was covered with prairie dog holes. The right main landing gear was torn off, and there were wrinkles in the skin and gear box. Recorded wind at a nearby airport was from 110 degrees at 12 knots. For the landing on runway 29, this resulted in a direct 12 knot tailwind.
Factual narrative
On June 9, 2001, approximately 1430 mountain daylight time, a Luscombe 8E, N1614K, was substantially damaged following loss of control during landing at Longmont, Colorado. The student pilot, the only occupant aboard, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan had been filed for the student solo cross-country flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at St. Francis, Kansas, approximately 1230.
The following is based on a telephone conversation with the pilot shortly after the accident. The pilot had flown from Longmont to Akron, Colorado, then to St. Francis, Kansas, and was en route back to Longmont as part of a student solo cross-country flight. The airplane landed at Longmont and as soon as the wheels touched down, it veered off the left side of runway 29, crossed the median, which was covered with prairie dog holes. The right main landing gear was torn off, and there were wrinkles in the skin and gear box.
Recorded winds at the Broomfield-Jefferson County (Jeffco) Airport, located 20 miles south of Longmont, were from 110 degrees at 12 knots. For a landing on runway 29, this would present a direct 12 knot tailwind.
The pilot was asked to submit an accident report on June 15. When none was received, the instructor was contacted on his cellular telephone. Both he and the pilot were in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, attending the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual convention. The pilot said she had mailed the report. Additional reports and various correspondence were sent to the pilot on July 12, August 24, and October 12, but a completed Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) was not received.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1614K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4341
- Airframe hours
- 3,003
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert M. Michael
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 27, 2001 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- SYF · St. Francis, KS
- Destination
- 2V2 · Longmont, CO
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 2V2 · Vance Brand, runway 29, 4,800 × 75 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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 90 total · 74 in this make and model · 30 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 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.
Other investigations on N1614K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.