- Date
- July 4, 2004, 16:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Andover, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N803BLuscombe 8F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 29, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20040704022449A
- Case key
- 59576
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 aircraft control during approach. A factor was windshear.
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
While on final approach for runway 21, over the threshold, the airplane encountered windshear. The pilot was unable to control the rate of descent, and the airplane impacted the runway. The reported wind at an airport approximately 15 miles northeast of the accident site, about the time of the accident, was from 150 degrees at 7 knots, varying between 120 degrees and 210 degrees.
Factual narrative
On July 4, 2004, about 1630 eastern daylight time, a Luscombe 8F, N803B, was substantially damaged while landing at Aeroflex-Andover Airport (12N), Andover, New Jersey. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated that she was on final approach for the turf runway parallel to runway 21; a 1,981-foot-long, 150-foot-wide runway. As the airplane crossed the runway threshold, it encountered a severe downdraft. Before the pilot could arrest the descent, the airplane impacted the runway and came to rest inverted. The pilot further stated the prevailing winds were from the east, over a ridgeline, which caused downdrafts.
The reported wind at an airport approximately 15 miles northeast of the accident site, at 1653, was from 150 degrees at 7 knots, varying between 120 degrees and 210 degrees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N803B
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 6733
- Engine
- Continental C-90, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mariana E Gosnell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 12N · Andover, NJ
- Destination
- 12N
- Airport
- 12N · Aeroflex-Andover Airport, runway 21, 1,981 × 50 ft, grass/turf
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
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- March 18, 2003
- Flight hours
- 1,007 total · 924 in this make and model · 904 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 7 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- FWN, 15 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.