- Date
- July 30, 2018, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pottsville, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2022KLuscombe 8
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 18, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180730018359A
- Case key
- 97956
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.
Findings · 3
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, during landing, the airplane veered right, he applied left rudder to correct, but the airplane exited the runway to the right and impacted a ditch. The pilot added that he thought that he had become too relaxed and was "not on his game" during the landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during landing, the airplane veered to the right, he applied left rudder to correct, but the airplane exited the runway to the right and impacted a ditch. The pilot added that he thought that he became too relaxed and "not on his game" during the landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot did not submit the NTSB Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2022K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8 (E)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4749
- Built
- 1947
- Engine
- Continental C85, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- ZER · Pottsville, PA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- ZER · Schuylkill County/Joe Zerbey, runway 11, 4,599 × 75 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
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 19,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- KMUI, 19 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 22, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 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.