Ercoupe 415-C N93788

Summary

On 12 February 2006 at about 00:00 local time, a Ercoupe 415-C registered N93788 was involved in an accident near Arlington, Washington, United States. 2 people were 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

12 February 2006 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Arlington, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO)

Coordinates

48.1606, -122.1589

Aircraft

Ercoupe 415-C

Registration

N93788

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Arlington → Everett

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA06CA051

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's excessive descent rate and his delay in taking action to reduce the descent rate which resulted in an in-flight collision with the runway during an emergency landing. Contributing factors were the total loss of engine oil pressure and the pilot's failure to check the oil pressure gage after engine start which would have resulted in detection of the oil pressure problem prior to takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, earlier in the afternoon, he flew the airplane from one airport to another, and he and his passenger had lunch at the destination airport. The pilot reported that he experienced "some difficulty restarting the plane" for the return trip. After "several tries," he was able to restart the engine. The pilot stated that he did not recall checking the engine oil pressure after restarting the engine. After takeoff on runway 34, the pilot "noticed that the oil pressure indicated 0." He reduced power and maneuvered the airplane for an emergency landing on runway 11. During the turn to final, the airplane "lost altitude," and the pilot attempted to stop the descent by adding power, but the left wing struck the ground. According to the pilot, about 6 months before the accident, "there were several incidents where the oil pressure failed to come up after a stop for lunch. After mechanics replace[d] the oil pressure relief valve, this had not been a problem." The reason for the loss of oil pressure on the accident flight was not determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.