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Atlas / NTSB / FTW96LA213

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW96LA213

1996-05-14 CALHAN, Colorado, United States Airport · 5V4 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N1690B

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

LUSCOMBE 11A

Year of manufacture

1949 · 47 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR E185 SERIES (205 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19551026

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A11577

Registrant of record

MELCHER TIMOTHY P

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing. A factor was a gusting cross-wind.

Factual narrative

On May 14, 1996, at 1530 mountain daylight time, a Luscombe 11A, N1690B, struck a fence post after departing the side of the runway at Calhan, Colorado, during landing roll. The airline transport pilot and passenger were not injured, and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The flight was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 91 as a positioning flight and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated from Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado, at 1500. According to the pilot, he was landing on runway 35 with the wind from 270 degrees magnetic at 15 knots with gusts to 25 knots. He said that after touch down, the aircraft began to weather vane and departed the left side of the runway. He attempted to go around but the aircraft was in deep grass and would not accelerate. The aircraft struck a fence post causing damage to the left flap, left stabilizer, left elevator, left main trunion and empennage. After the encounter with the fence, the aircraft again entered the runway area and was taxied to a hangar by the pilot. During landing roll, after completion of a positioning flight, the aircraft departed the side of the runway and struck a fence post. Winds at the time were a cross-wind of 15 knots with gusts to 25. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1996_FTW96LA213.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗