- Date
- December 2, 1997, 15:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Grass Valley, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2591KLuscombe 8
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971202043269A
- Case key
- 30006
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 inadvertent activation of the aircraft brakes during the landing rollout.
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
On landing rollout the pilot inadvertently activated the aircraft brakes and the aircraft nosed over. The pilot stated that weather was not a factor, and that there were no mechanical difficulties with the aircraft.
Factual narrative
On December 2, 1997 at 1500 hours Pacific standard time, a Luscombe 194E, N2591K, veered off the runway during the landing roll and subsequently nosed over at the Auburn Airport, Grass Valley, California. The aircraft was substantially damaged, and the commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the local flight and no flight plan was filed.
In an interview with an Federal Aviation Administration inspector from the Sacramento, California, Flight Standards District Office, the pilot stated that he inadvertently activated the aircraft brakes during the landing roll and the aircraft nosed over. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft and weather was not a factor.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2591K
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8 (A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5318
- Airframe hours
- 2,680
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8F, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Joseph C. Mahlbacher
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 8, 1997
- Departed
- AUN
- Airport
- AUN · Auburn, runway 25, 3,100 × 60 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
- 62
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,000 total · 300 in this make and model · 2,700 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 1 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BAB, 20 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.
Other investigations on N2591K · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.