Luscombe 8 N1745K accident near Fort Valley, Georgia

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s failure to maintain airspeed during an approach with a simulated engine failure, which resulted in an exceedance of the wing’s critical angle-of-attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall/spin.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor was providing the private pilot with 1 hour of flight experience in the tailwheel airplane to meet insurance company requirements. About 20 minutes after departure, while performing a simulated engine-out approach to landing, the flight instructor allowed the airspeed to decay, and the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall, about 300 ft short of the runway. The airplane impacted the ground in a steep, left-wing-down attitude. The private pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA15FA103 for the full record.