ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 265653
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| Date: | Sunday 18 July 2021 |
| Time: | 20:40 |
| Type: |  Luscombe 8F Silvaire Deluxe |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N2054B |
| MSN: | 6481 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1949 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 3953 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental C90-8F |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Comstock, TX -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Del Rio Airport, TX (KDRT) |
| Del Rio Airport, TX (KDRT) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On July 18, 2021, about 2040 central daylight time, a Luscombe 8F, N2054B, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Comstock, Texas. The commercial pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot departed on a personal flight, and the wreckage was located about 20 nautical miles from the departure airport by the property owner. There were no witnesses to the accident. Recorded data showed that, after maneuvering over the area of the accident site for about 6 minutes, the airplane entered a near-vertical descent. The airplane impacted terrain and was destroyed. The wreckage was consistent with a wings-level, near-vertical impact. Postaccident examination revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Toxicology testing of the pilot identified ethanol. The large discrepancy among the ethanol levels in muscle, heart, and liver indicates that at least some of the detected ethanol was likely from sources other than consumption. Notably, the severity of injury made postmortem microbial ethanol production more likely, and the detectable n-propanol and n-butanol in muscle and heart indicate likely postmortem microbial activity in these tissues (although such activity does not always produce ethanol).
Although at least some of the detected ethanol was likely from sources other than consumption, the available ethanol results are insufficient to exclude the possibility that consumed ethanol may have exerted impairing effects on the pilot, particularly given that diphenhydramine was also detected. Like ethanol, diphenhydramine may exert impairing sedative effects, and such effects may combine with those of ethanol. There is insufficient medical and operational evidence to determine whether ethanol or diphenhydramine caused impairment that contributed to the accident.
Probable Cause: Impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/texas-837380b69620e52b210f36484f1f42d7
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=2054B
FAA
NTSB
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/abpic-media-eu-production/pictures/full_size_0367/1549587-large.jpg (photo)
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Media:
NTSB is investigating the July 18, 2021, crash of a Luscombe 8F airplane near Comstock, Texas.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) July 19, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Jul-2021 14:37 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 20-Jul-2021 05:46 | RobertMB | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 20-Jul-2021 18:22 | Anon. | Updated [Time, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 15-May-2022 04:10 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 12-Aug-2022 22:23 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, Accident report, Photo] |
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