Ercoupe 415-D N93835

Summary

On 18 July 2000 at about 14:30 local time, a Ercoupe 415-D registered N93835 was involved in an accident near Hamilton, Montana, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 July 2000 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Hamilton, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Ravalli County Airport (6S5)

Coordinates

46.1592, -114.1395

Aircraft

Ercoupe 415-D

Registration

N93835

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Missoula → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA00LA136

1 person died.

The excessive rate at which the student pilot allowed the aircraft to descend into the runway surface while attempting to land. Factors include the pilot's lack of experience in airplanes.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Although the person piloting the aircraft had recently been issued a third class medical/student pilots certificate, he had not received instruction in an airplane for over 20 years, and did not have an endorsement to fly an airplane solo. Nevertheless, he undertook a flight to reposition the aircraft from his private airstrip to the location where he planned to take flight instruction. While attempting to land at that location, the pilot allowed the aircraft to contact the runway while in an excessive rate of descent. The impact was hard enough to collapse the nose gear, damage the firewall, shatter the gasculator bowl, fracture a fuel line fitting, and result in the aircraft bouncing back into the air. The aircraft then hit the runway hard a second time, whereupon it slid along the surface with flames emanating from the aft area of the engine compartment. By the time the aircraft came to a stop, much of the forward half was engulfed in flames. Although the pilot was able to exit the aircraft unassisted, he later succumbed to the extensive thermal injuries he sustained during the accident sequence.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.