- Date
- May 24, 2021, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Skaneateles, NY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1331KLuscombe 8A
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20210524003509A
- Case key
- 103143
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 the takeoff roll which resulted in a runway excursion and nose-over event.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped stated that he felt that he lacked rudder authority during the takeoff roll which caused him to lose directional control. The airplane departed the left side of the runway surface and subsequently nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and right wing. A postaccident examination of the airplane’s rudder control system revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1331K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4058
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 1,789.72
- Engine
- Continental A-65, 65 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 14, 2020
- Destination
- 0G7 · Seneca Falls, NY
- Airport
- 6B9 · Skaneateles Aero Drome, runway 10/28, 3,134 × 58 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 87
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 200 in this make and model · 50 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KSYR, 19 nm away
- METAR
- KSYR 241754Z 04003KT 10SM FEW055 FEW140 FEW250 23/07 A3020 RMK AO2 SLP222 T02280072 10233 20122 58017
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 7, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.