Ercoupe 415-C N2765H

Summary

On 17 July 2015 at about 14:30 local time, a Ercoupe 415-C registered N2765H was involved in an accident near Alexandria, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 July 2015 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Alexandria, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Alexandria Airport (I99)

Coordinates

40.2325, -85.6375

Aircraft

Ercoupe 415-C

Registration

N2765H

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hamilton → Sheboygan

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15CA373

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain/attain adequate airspeed and attitude during landing that resulted in a hard landing. Contributing was the pilot's diverted attention to air traffic and the reduction of perceptible audio cues due to noise attenuating headsets.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument rated private pilot diverted to the alternate airport so as to avoid flight into instrument meteorological conditions along the intended route of flight path to a destination airport. While landing at the alternate airport, the airplane bounced and departed off the side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage that included the engine firewall and right wing. The pilot stated that he reduced engine power and airspeed so as to increase separation with a preceding aircraft that was also landing, which resulted in "too much" airspeed being reduced and the bounced landing. The pilot stated that he was using active noise reduction headsets for the first time, which "greatly" reduced engine noise and "muted" audio input so as to not receive the "normal" audio indications that his senses were accustomed to on prior flights. The accident was not reported by the pilot and was discovered by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector during routine surveillance at the airport.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.