Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On August 16, 2003, approximately 1120 mountain daylight time, a Luscombe 8E, N1614K, registered to and operated by the pilot, was substantially damaged when it nosed over and impacted terrain while landing at Vance Brand Airport, Longmont, Colorado. The commercial pilot-in-command and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Longmont at approximately 1030.

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, skidding approximately 10 feet on the nose. The airplane nosed over on the runway.

Postaccident inspection by a mechanic revealed a flat 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." The top of the vertical stabilizer was crushed, the right wing spar and lift strut were bent, the aft portion of the fuselage was buckled, both main landing gear wheel pants were fractured, the right and left passenger doors were separated, and the lower engine cowling and propeller spinner were scraped. Separation of the landing gear tire valve stem resulting in the left main tire deflating, and the pilot's inability to maintain aircraft control.