MIA06LA135 · Luscombe 8A

The airplane landed at a private airstrip for unknown reasons and then departed with the engine producing less than takeoff power. Witnesses observed the airplane climb slowly and about 80 feet above ground level, turn left. The airplane then stalled, nosed over in a left wing low attitude, and impacted the ground nose first. An examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any pre-impact conditions that would have prevented the engine from producing takeoff power, or any airframe failures or malfunctions. The airplane was within maximum takeoff weight limitations. The pilot's last medical, a second class, was on April 23, 1984, and at that time he reported 85 total hours of flight experience. A family member reported that the pilot quit flying about 30 years prior to the accident because of diabetes, and that the pilot didn't start flying again until obtaining a Sport Pilot certificate and purchasing the accident airplane. The pilot's flight logbook showed he started flying again on December 11, 2004, and that he had a current flight review at the time of the accident. The last entry in the logbook, dated August 20, 2006, showed 215 total hours of flight experience. The pilot had a valid driver's license, and the airplane met the Light-sport category requirements. A self produced handwritten checklist was located in the wreckage. The first item on the checklist under pre-takeoff was "blood sugar test." The pilot's autopsy revealed the use of an insulin pump, typically utilized in diabetes that is difficult to control.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset