Vance Brand Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Longmont, Colorado 80503
Saturday, August 16, 2003 11:20 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said he was practicing touch-and-go landings. He said that on a previous 2-point landing, "it felt like someone was pushing and releasing the brakes. It was not severe so [he] continued to takeoff speed and rotated." The next landing was a 3-point landing and "touchdown and rollout initially were fine." When he applied heel brakes, "the left wheel folded and started flapping" and the airplane yawed to the left. The pilot corrected with right rudder. The pilot said there was insufficient airflow to hold the tail down, and the nose and prop struck the ground. The airplane skidded approximately 10 feet on the nose before nosing over on the runway. Postaccident inspection by a mechanic revealed the left main tire was flat. He said the tire looked normal and "showed no protrusions." The mechanic said the valve stem was "torn from the tube with no indications of dry-rotting in the rubber or misalignment of the tube. There was a small hole, most likely caused by pinching during the rollout of the aircraft with the tube deflated."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Separation of the landing gear tire valve stem resulting in the left main tire deflating, and the pilot's inability to maintain aircraft control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/16/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1120
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Longmont
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80503
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 400949N
Event Location Longitude 1050947W
Event Location Airport Vance Brand
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 2V2
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5052
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1135 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 345
Weather Observation Facility ID BJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5670
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 25000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.21
Density Altitude (feet) 7109
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16056
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Aug 17 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1150
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2004 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1614K
NTSB Number DEN03LA144
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Luscombe
Aircraft Model 8E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 4341
Certified Max Gross Weight 1400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 5 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27.9
Airframe Hours 3081
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Benjamin A. Scharf
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Longmont
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80501
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 2V2
Departure City Longmont
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 2V2
Destination City Longmont
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 9 2004 10:07AM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 4800
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --