Indiantown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Indiantown, Florida 34956
Tuesady, June 3, 2008 12:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

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.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

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

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/3/2008
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1245
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Indiantown
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 34956
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 270215N
Event Location Longitude 0802628W
Event Location Airport Indiantown
Event Location Nearest Airport ID X58
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 30
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1245 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 300
Weather Observation Facility ID OBE
Elevation of weather observation facility 34
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.13
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 24186
NTSB Notification Source Southern Region Communication
NTSB Notification Date Jun 5 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2008 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Ft. Lauderdale

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N37012
NTSB Number NYC08CA205
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Luscombe
Aircraft Model 8A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1678
Certified Max Gross Weight 1260
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Jul 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 24
Airframe Hours 1920
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Treasurer Coast Sport Flyers
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Stuart
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34996
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code X58
Departure City Indiantown
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1245
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SUA
Destination City Stuart
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 26 2008 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 6300
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --