- Date
- March 20, 1993, 17:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Abbeville, LA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1337BLuscombe 8E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 25, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930320007939A
- Case key
- 18715
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 compensate for crosswind conditions and the subsequent loss of directional control. Factors were the gusting crosswinds and the soft wet ground
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
During a crosswind landing with winds gusting to 20 knots the airplane ran off the left side of the runway. After the airplane left the runway the pilot attempted to veer around a runway landing light and the airplane's landing gear sank in the soft wet grass. As the landing gear sank into the ground the airplane nosed over to the inverted position.
Factual narrative
On March 20, 1993, at approximately 1730 central standard time (CST), a Luscombe 8E, N1337B, was substantially damaged during landing at the Abbeville, Louisiana, Municipal airport. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Mark Lerille was the owner and operator. Weather for the local area flight was visual meteorological conditions.
During an interview conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector the pilot reported the following information. During landing the airplane ran off the left side of the runway. After leaving the runway the pilot diverted around a runway light and the landing gear became mired in the soft wet ground. The mired landing gear resulted in the pilot losing further control and the airplane nosing over to the inverted position. The pilot further reported that the crosswinds reached gusts of 20 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1337B
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5964
- Airframe hours
- 2,525
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lerille, Mark
- Registered owner
- Lerille, Mark
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 20, 1993 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- LFT · Lafayette, LA
- Destination
- 0R3
- Airport
- 0R3 · Abbeville, runway 15, 5,000 × 75 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 100 in this make and model · 1,300 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.