Undetermined · NTSB ERA15FA103
LUSCOMBE 8 — Fort Valley, GA
| Date | January 16, 2015 |
| Location | Fort Valley, GA |
| Aircraft | LUSCOMBE 8 |
| Purpose of flight | Instructional |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Approach-VFR pattern final Simulated/training event |
| Pilot age | 52 |
| Pilot total time | 1,449 hrs · Experienced |
| Time in type | 0 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1, 1 serious |
Probable cause
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.
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Instructor/check pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded - C
What happened
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.