Luscombe 8A N77947

Summary

On 22 February 1997 at about 20:00 local time, a Luscombe 8A registered N77947 was involved in an accident near Morgan, Utah, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 February 1997 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Morgan, Utah, United States

Coordinates

41.0102, -111.6693

Aircraft

Luscombe 8A

Registration

N77947

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97LA061

Nobody was injured.

Disconnection of the mixture control wire wound cable sheath. A factor was the abrupt, elevated edge of the highway pavement.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in cruise at 1,500 feet AGL, the pilot attempted to lean the mixture. He discovered he could not advance the mixture control back into the rich position. Rather, the mixture control would spring back out into an idle position. With the aircraft committed to a reduced power descent, the pilot executed an intentional emergency landing on the westbound lanes of Interstate 84, during which he had to maneuver over an overpass and beneath power lines which crossed the highway. He reported that the landing was hard and during the rollout the aircraft departed the paved surface, veering left across the median, at which time the wheels struck a six inch lip at the edge of the pavement to the eastbound lanes. The aircraft then nosed over. Postcrash examination of the aircraft revealed that the wire-wound sheathing surrounding the mixture control push-pull cable had separated from the solid fitting end which is held firm at the back of the instrument panel. This disconnection allowed the mixture control cable and surrounding wire-wound sheath to flex but prevented the cable from changing the position of the mixture control at the carburetor.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.