- Date
- April 18, 1991, 19:45 local (Apr 19, 1991, 02:45 UTC)
- Place
- Clark Fork, ID
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N45656Luscombe 8A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 7, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910418011479A
- Case key
- 41415
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-in-command's failure to maintain proper altitude in cruise light resulting in an in flight collision with a wire and subsequent forced landing in a river.
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 in cruise flight over a river, the pilot reported that the windshield suddenly blew out. The pilot thought that the airplane had been struck by a bird. The airplane became directionally unstable and the pilot opted to ditch the airplane in the river. The local sheriff's department personnel reported that a downed wire that ran across the river was found in the vicinity of the accident site.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N45656
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2183
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Paul F. Clock
- Registered owner
- Paul F. Clock
- Departed
- THM · Thompson Falls, MT
- Destination
- S62 · Silverwood, ID
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 900 total · 100 in this make and model · 900 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.