- Date
- May 9, 2023, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Frenchville, ME
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1885BSilvaire Luscombe 8F
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: 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/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230509008459A
- Case key
- 139288
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 control of the airplane while landing in gusting wind conditions.
Findings · 4
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 airplane reported that after making a 3-point landing on the airport’s paved runway a gust of wind, “turned [the airplane] towards a ditch.” The pilot pressed on the brakes “hard” to prevent going into the ditch and the airplane nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1885B
- Reported as
- Silvaire Luscombe 8F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 6312
- Built
- 1948
- Airframe hours
- 4,784.4
- Engine
- Continental C-90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 17, 2023
- Departed
- ME19 · Clayton Lake, ME
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FVE · Northern Aroostook Rgnl, runway 32, 4,600 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 11, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 302 total · 48 in this make and model · 36 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 14 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Turbulence
- Moderate
- Observed at
- FVE
- METAR
- KFVE 091453Z AUTO 32014G22KT 10SM FEW050 OVC065 07/M07 A2993 RMK AO2 PK WND 33028/1402 SLP140 T00721067 53009
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 7, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.6 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.
Other investigations on N1885B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.