Luscombe 8F N1484B

Summary

On 26 January 2003 at about 18:10 local time, a Luscombe 8F registered N1484B was involved in an accident near Newport, Maine, United States. One person was on board and 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

26 January 2003 at 18:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Newport, Maine, United States

Nearest airport

Newport Sky Park (ME68)

Coordinates

44.8200, -69.2383

Aircraft

Luscombe 8F

Registration

N1484B

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wiscasset → Newport

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC03LA044

1 person was seriously injured.

The fatigue failure of a the cylinder wall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While descending to land the engine lost total power. The cabin of the airplane began to fill with smoke, and the pilot performed a forced landing to the airport. During the descent, the airplane struck trees and impacted a snow bank. Examination of the airplane revealed a hole along the outer wall of the number one cylinder barrel. The number one cylinder was forwarded to the Safety Board Materials Lab for examination. The lab noted that the fracture was in the cylinder barrel between the 3rd and 6th cooling fins from the mounting flange. Major portions of the fracture contained fatigue features that initiated from the radius between the 3rd and 4th fins approximately in line with the exhaust valve. There was no evidence of defects at the origin area of the fatigue cracking. The cylinder had accumulated about 530 hours of total operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.