Ercoupe 415 C N87EV

Summary

On 7 March 2015 at about 20:00 local time, a Ercoupe 415 C registered N87EV was involved in an accident near St Jacob, Illinois, 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

7 March 2015 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

St Jacob, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

St Louis Metro-East (3K6)

Coordinates

38.7328, -89.8067

Aircraft

Ercoupe 415 C

Registration

N87EV

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fredericktown → St Jacob

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA177

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power during the go-around due to fuel contamination.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was flying the accident airplane under a ferry permit to the destination airport. However, due to unsafe runway conditions at the destination, he chose to land at an alternate airport nearby. Upon arrival at the alternate airport, the pilot executed an aborted landing. He applied engine power and climbed the airplane to about 150 to 200 ft and then the engine lost power without any warning. During the forced landing, the airplane sustained substantial wing and firewall damage. During a postaccident engine run using the header tank fuel from the accident flight, the engine started, ran roughly, and would not accelerate smoothly. The header tank was drained, and fresh aviation fuel was added to the tank; the engine then ran smoothly and accelerated normally. The engine likely lost power due to contaminated fuel.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.