N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rancho Cucamonga, California 91730
Friday, July 18, 2014 18:16 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On July 18, 2014, about 1816 Pacific daylight time, a Luscombe 8A, N77942, collided with the ground during a forced landing on an open field in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The private pilot was seriously injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The airplane was registered to the pilot and operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed. The local flight originated from Cable Airport (CCB), Upland, California at 1800. Witnesses in the area stated they observed the airplane in cruise flight heading eastward when the engine lost power. The pilot was attempting to land the airplane when it impacted terrain short of an open field. According to the pilot, shortly after departing from CCB on a standard departure procedure to the east, the engine lost power. He attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. A forced landing was executed by turning the airplane to the southwest and then shortly after to the north to avoid power lines in the area. The pilot positioned the propeller assembly in the horizontal position prior to touchdown to prevent a propeller strike during the landing. Initial examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the aft fuselage was buckled and the forward fuselage and firewall were crushed. The left wing was separated at the wing root area and repositioned over the right wing by first responders. Fuel drained from the wings and the battery was removed from the airplane. The emergency locator transmitter (ELT) was activated and turned to the "OFF" position during the initial examination. The airplane was relocated to a secured facility for further examination.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/18/2014
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1816
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Rancho Cucamonga
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91730
Event Date Year 2014
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 340950N
Event Location Longitude 1173435W
Event Location Airport N/A
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 53 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 190
Weather Observation Facility ID KONT
Elevation of weather observation facility 905
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 22000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 16000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
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) 29.93
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KONT 190053Z 25012KT 10SM SCT160 BKN220 27/1
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC-Los Angeles
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 19 2014 2:45AM
User who most recently changed record swia
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N77942
NTSB Number WPR14LA300
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed --
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name LUSCOMBE
Aircraft Model 8A
Aircraft Series Identifier A
Aircraft Serial Number 3669
Certified Max Gross Weight 1351
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Gadis, Ethan
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Glendora
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Gadis, Ethan
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Glendora
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CCB
Departure City UPLAND
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1810
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code CCB
Destination City UPLAND
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 31 2014 7:53PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight --
Medical Flight --