NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA11CA281
Registry · N1902K
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
LUSCOMBE 8E
Year of manufacture
1947 · 64 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR C85 SERIES (85 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19570122
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A16AD3
Registrant of record
BOLTON DERWIN B
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s excessive application of the brakes, which caused the airplane to nose over.
Factual narrative
The private pilot stated that he was conducting a full stop landing. He executed a normal landing, lowered the tail and was rolling fast. The airplane was on the center line with 300 to 400 feet of runway remaining. He stated that he applied the brakes aggressively, which lifted the tail, and caused the propeller to strike the ground. The aircraft then flipped over and came to rest inverted substantially damaging the vertical stabilizer and wings. Post accident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated that he was conducting a full-stop landing. He executed a normal landing, lowered the tail and was rolling fast. The airplane was on the center line with 300 to 400 feet of runway remaining. He stated that he applied the brakes aggressively, which lifted the tail and caused the propeller to strike the ground. The airplane then flipped over and came to rest inverted, substantially damaging the vertical stabilizer and wings. A postaccident examination revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Landing gear brakes system-Incorrect use/operation - C
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Pilot - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2011_ERA11CA281.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Transonic Experimental Observations of Abrupt Wing Stall on an F/A-l8E Model
A transonic wind tunnel test of an 8% F/A-18E model was conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) 16 ft Transonic Tunnel (16-ft TT) to investigate on-surface flow physics during stall.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Transonic Experimental Observations of Abrupt Wing Stall on an F/A-18E Model (Invited)
A transonic wind tunnel test of an 8% F/A-18E model was conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) 16 ft Transonic Tunnel (16-ft TT) to investigate on-surface flow physics during stall.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗