Luscombe 8 N71899

Summary

On 30 August 2024 at about 20:30 local time, a Luscombe 8 registered N71899 was involved in an accident near Bend, Oregon, 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

30 August 2024 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Bend, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Bend Muni (BDN)

Coordinates

44.0946, -121.2002

Aircraft

Luscombe 8

Registration

N71899

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

Lewiston → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24LA294

Nobody was injured.

A failure of the left fuel valve, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a total loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he departed with full fuel tanks, which should have provided about 3.5 hours of endurance. While enroute, the pilot noted the fuel levels in the two fuel tanks were uneven and were draining faster than expected and that the left fuel gauge appeared lower than the right gauge. The pilot had difficulty monitoring the airplane’s fuel levels because he perceived the fuel gauges to be inaccurate and the needles were bouncing. As the airplane approached the destination airport at the conclusion of the 2.5 hour flight, the engine suffered a total loss of power. The pilot performed a forced landing in a field, during which the airplane impacted a fence and came to rest inverted. As a result, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and empennage. Postaccident photos revealed the lower cabin insulation was fuel soaked, and fuel staining was observed beneath the left fuel valve. The pilot reported that both fuel tanks were devoid of fuel after he impacted the ground. When fuel was fed into the airplane’s left fuel line after the accident, the left fuel valve began to leak from around the valve shaft. Figure 1: The left fuel valve and fuel system diagram. Based on the available information it is likely that the airplane lost an unknown quantity of fuel due to a leak in the left fuel valve, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.