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**CraigH** · 02-27-2004, 08:20

Am I missing something, or does the report indicate that there were 3 people in the airplane?

**Acroeric** · 02-27-2004, 09:11

Yep- remember- this is preliminary data- many times it is wrong. I have heard of more than 2 being in a Tcraft though.
Eric

**yerich109** · 02-28-2004, 21:33

A good friend of mine is going there Monday to play adjuster for the insurance company. He said that from what he knew, something happened on the downwind leg, 1 fatal, 1 injured, but that is all the information that he has thusfar. I should get a report from him mid-week, and will forward anything I learn.

Be safe,

**yerich109** · 03-02-2004, 08:10

My friend called me last night after returning from Little Rock. He says that the plane was intact when it impacted. The only thing that was left in reasonable condition was the tailfeathers. He says there were no witnesses to the accident. The pilot (survivor) has about 100 hours in that plane and several thousand total time. He and a passenger had been flying for a little over an hour.

The NTSB told him they believed the prop was turning at impact, but my friend wasn't able to tell that for himself. He also noted that there wasn't a smell of fuel at the site.

From what he described, it sounds like his personal opinion was that they POSSIBLY ran out of fuel and stalled/spun in.

All of this is my personal opinion, and in no way reflects any official determination. I feel very sorry for the loss/suffering that is a result of the accident. My main interest was to find out if there was a structural or control problem with the airplane.

Be careful!!!!!

**alwaysoar** · 03-02-2004, 13:16

I went to the NTSB site to look at the monthly index but the accident isn't posted yet. I then went back three years to check out T-Craft accidents. In three years there were about 13 accidents. There were a few due to landing short, landing long, running out of gas (incorrect tank switching), one fence snagging, two downwind take-offs, one student go-around, one weather. There was one fatalilty I think. There were two that were attributed to a CFI with no right brakes unable to control a takeoff roll. Does anyone have any insight into that? There was one in which a pilot flew into a downdraft and crashed--it looks like he may have been too low on the lee side of a ridge. There was one propping accident.
I witnessed a runaway Luscomb once and am now scrupulously careful but still very humble. I ALWAYS tie it down. I use a halter if I'm away from my own tie down. I run a 3/8 poly glider tow rope with a whipped loop in one end around one strut at the fuselage, take the other end around some object, a tree or something--there's always something you can back up to--and tie the other end to the strut on the pilot side. I then chock it, and start from behind. Once I've got it running, and I'm inside, I can untie the halter and haul it inside. I'd be interested in other thoughts on this.
There were also two stall/spin accidents. I lost a cub someone else was flying in a stall/spin accident. These little planes seem very docile and forgiving, but they can be killers.
But there were no structural failures in the reports I read--Forrest had told me that once that there never had been a structural failure in a T-Craft

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