- Date
- November 29, 1996, 12:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Floydada, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1907KLuscombe 8F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 23, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19961129036889A
- Case key
- 20118
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 inadequate compensation for the crosswind during landing. Factors were the crosswind and the locked left main wheel brake.
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 the landing roll on runway 17, with the wind 'out of the west at 20 to 30 knots and gusty,' the pilot was unable to prevent the airplane from beginning 'a steep turn towards the west.' The pilot applied left brake, but this did not slow the turn to the right. As the pilot increased pressure on the left brake, the brake 'locked,' the tail came up, and the airplane nosed over. The winds recorded at a location 32 nautical miles from the accident site, 4 minutes prior to the accident, were from 220 degrees at 19 knots.
Factual narrative
On November 29, 1996, at 1200 central standard time, a Luscombe 8F, N1907K, registered to and operated by a private owner, sustained substantial damage during landing near Floydada, Texas. The private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 ferry flight. A flight plan was not filed for the cross country flight that originated from Bovina, Texas, at 1100.
According to the pilot, "the winds were out of the west at 20 to 30 knots and gusty." He was "unable to maintain a straight ground track on the runway" during his first attempted landing on runway 17 at the Floydada Municipal Airport and executed a go-around. On his second landing, the pilot was able to maintain a straight track until he "couldn't hold the tail up anymore." When the tail "dropped," he lost rudder authority and "could not keep the airplane moving straight." The airplane "began a steep turn towards the west," and the pilot applied left brake, but this did not slow the turn to the right. As the pilot increased pressure on the left brake, "the brake locked," the "tail came up," and the airplane nosed over coming to rest in the inverted position. Damage to the airplane included a crushed vertical stabilizer and bending of the fuselage.
At 1156, 4 minutes prior to the accident, the winds at the Lubbock International Airport in Lubbock, Texas, were from 220 degrees at 19 knots. Lubbock International Airport is 32 nautical miles from the accident site.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1907K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4634
- Airframe hours
- 2,210
- Engine
- Continental C-90, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Timothy J Hauder
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 6, 1996 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Bovina, TX
- Destination
- Q41
- Airport
- Q41 · Floydada Municipal, runway 17, 3,700 × 50 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
- 20
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 381 total · 46 in this make and model · 362 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 38 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 19 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LBB, 32 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.