ERA10LA164 · Luscombe 8A
Luscombe 8A · Accident: aerodynamic stall/spin during takeoff
From Hodges Airpark (GA39) to Hodges Airpark (GA39)
Event
- NTSB case
- ERA10LA164
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Luscombe 8A
- Aircraft type
- Luscombe 8
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N45976
- Operator
- Gautreau Arthur G
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Hodges Airpark (GA39), Savannah, GATo Hodges Airpark (GA39), Savannah, GA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Aerodynamic stall/spin
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
Prior to engine start, the pilot advised the witness that he intended to fly for about 45 minutes and remain close to the departure airport. The witness performed a hand start of the airplane for the pilot. After the second attempt, the engine started and the witness stated everything sounded and appeared normal but the takeoff appeared a little wobbly, but quite normal considering the breezy conditions. He repeated that he noticed nothing out of the ordinary with the pilot, the engine, or the airplane. The witness departed the airport before the pilot was expected to return that afternoon.
The airplane was located submerged in a pond, about 100 yards off the departure end of the runway, the following day. There were no witnesses to the accident. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The damage was indicative of a low-power, low-speed, aerodynamic stall and collision with water. Post mortem examination of the pilot revealed the presence of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and hypertensive heart disease, and the recent use of antidepressants, anti-anxiety, and painkilling medications. It was not known to what degree, if any, these issues affected the outcome of the flight. The pilot's most recent medical certificate was issued 19 years prior to the accident, but he was not required to hold a current one while operating as a sport pilot.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and inadvertent stall after takeoff.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ERA10LA164
- Event ID
- 20100306X63207
- Case number
- ERA10LA164
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 00d9f1025b54689e7b5f8ec97368b4dac40e1b0187e169ad0f1d7ffbf2cfc91a; retrieved 2026-09-13T20:41:42.013Z.