NTSB Factual Report

On January 15, 2001, at 2335 central standard time, a Luscombe 8E, N2953K, operated by a private pilot, contacted a snow bank and nosed over on landing on runway 12 (8,000 feet by 150 feet) at the North Platte Regional Airport, North Platte, Nebraska. The pilot was not injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight originated form Ogallala, Nebraska, at 2210 central standard time.

The pilot reported that upon nearing the airport, he heard another pilot announcing his intention to depart the airport on runway 12. The accident pilot performed a 360-degree turn near the airport so that the other airplane could depart prior to him landing. He reported that he thought the departing airplane was a small aircraft and not the "commercial" that it actually was. The pilot reported, "I had reached the frontal boundary and the winds had shifted hence the reason the aircraft was using the 12 as the active runway." The pilot reported he made a left-hand traffic pattern. He reported, "I managed to successfully land the downwind landing only to ground-loop my aircraft after contacting black-ice on runway near end of roll-out on runway 12." The pilot reported the airplane traveled to the left edge of the runway where it contacted a snow bank and nosed over.

The pilot reported the local winds at the time of the accident were from 300 degrees at 12 knots.

The North Platte Regional Airport weather observation, taken 16 minutes after the accident, reported the winds from 010 degrees at 8 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause

The inadvertent ground loop. Factors associated with the accident were the pilot selected the wrong runway on which to land, the quartering tailwind, the icy runway, and the snow bank which the airplane contacted.