Luscombe 8A N37012

Summary

On 3 June 2008 at about 16:45 local time, a Luscombe 8A registered N37012 was involved in an accident near Indiantown, Florida, United States. 2 people were 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

3 June 2008 at 16:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Indiantown, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Indiantown (X58)

Coordinates

27.0375, -80.4411

Aircraft

Luscombe 8A

Registration

N37012

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Indiantown → Stuart

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08CA205

Nobody was injured.

An inadequate annual inspection that failed to detect a damaged rudder cable which resulted in the cable's subsequent failure during takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Luscombe 8A was taking off from a turf runway, and had climbed to an altitude of about 10 feet above ground level, when the left rudder cable failed. The airplane yawed to the right and the left wing and nose contacted the ground. The airplane subsequently came to rest on the right side of the runway and sustained substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left rudder cable had separated at the first pulley under the cabin floor. The separated end of the cable was frayed and displayed evidence of corrosion. The airplane had been operated for about 25 hours since its most recent annual inspection, which was performed about 11 months prior to the accident. At the time of the inspection, a mechanic noted that the control cables were inspected for damage per a required Airworthiness Directive.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.