Luscombe 8 N1745K

Summary

On 16 January 2015 at about 16:20 local time, a Luscombe 8 registered N1745K was involved in an accident near Fort Valley, Georgia, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 January 2015 at 16:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Valley, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Cameron Field (GA81)

Coordinates

32.5478, -83.8269

Aircraft

Luscombe 8

Registration

N1745K

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

MacOn → MacOn

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15FA103

1 person died.

The flight instructor’s failure to maintain airspeed during an approach with a simulated engine failure, which resulted in an exceedance of the wing’s critical angle-of-attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall/spin.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was providing the private pilot with 1 hour of flight experience in the tailwheel airplane to meet insurance company requirements. About 20 minutes after departure, while performing a simulated engine-out approach to landing, the flight instructor allowed the airspeed to decay, and the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall, about 300 ft short of the runway. The airplane impacted the ground in a steep, left-wing-down attitude. The private pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.