Luscombe 8A N77917

Summary

On 23 June 2014 at about 18:00 local time, a Luscombe 8A registered N77917 was involved in an accident near Tucson, Arizona, 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

23 June 2014 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Tucson Intl (TUS)

Coordinates

32.1094, -110.9378

Aircraft

Luscombe 8A

Registration

N77917

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Tucson

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14CA266

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's use of excessive brakes during taxi, which resulted in a loss of aircraft control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The solo student pilot was taxiing in a tailwheel equipped airplane for takeoff on the second leg of a solo cross-country flight. During the taxi, she noticed she was approaching a hold short line and applied the brakes to stop at the line. She said while depressing the heel brakes her foot became wedged and she pressed the brake harder than necessary. The tail of the airplane came up, dropping the nose to the ground. The airplane hesitated with its tail in the air for a moment, and then fell over on its back. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and the fuselage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.