Ercoupe 415 N3884H

Summary

On 9 August 2016 at about 23:00 local time, a Ercoupe 415 registered N3884H was involved in an accident near Eminence, 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

9 August 2016 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Eminence, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Patrum Field (II09)

Coordinates

39.5736, -86.6181

Aircraft

Ercoupe 415

Registration

N3884H

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Indianapolis → Stilesville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16CA317

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain a proper glide path during the landing approach and his failure to use available engine power to arrest the descent, resulting in an undershoot and collision with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private rated pilot reported that he flew a normal traffic pattern to the grass strip airport. During the final landing approach, he was lined up with the runway but a little bit low for the approach. He stated that he knew he was low and for an unknown reason he did not advance the throttle to arrest the airplane's descent. This resulted in the airplane's landing gear contacting the bean field. When the gear contacted the beans, the airplane nosed down into the ground and was damaged. The airplane came to rest on the end of the grass runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall and fuselage. The pilot was not injured. When asked if he experienced any mechanical difficulties with the airplane, he responded that there were none and that the airplane was operating perfectly. Based on this information the pilot failed to maintain a proper glide path during the landing approach and then failed to use available engine power to arrest the descent, resulting in an undershoot and collision with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.