Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415-C accident near Elkhart, IL
On August 7, 2024, an Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415-C (airplane) was involved in an accident near Elkhart, IL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 7, 2024
- Place
- Elkhart, IL
- Aircraft
- Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415-C · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.986°N, 89.471°W
- NTSB ID
- 20240811194886
Official records · CEN24FA312
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 7, 2024, about 0800 central daylight time, an Ercoupe 415-C airplane, N3093H, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Elkhart, Illinois. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. On August 6, 2024, the airplane departed Roben-Hood Airport (RQB), Big Rapids, Michigan, about 1700 and landed at Vermilion Regional Airport, Danville, Illinois, (DNV) later that evening. A fuel receipt confirmed that the pilot filled the airplane with 16.34 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel at DNV. A friend of the pilot stated that the pilot called him on the evening of August 6 and told him that he was spending the night at DNV and would depart the morning of August 7 to embark on a multi-leg cross country flight that would terminate on August 8 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. When the pilot did not arrive in Colorado Springs, the friend reported him missing on August 10, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Alert Notice. The airplane was not equipped with ADS B, nor did it have a transponder. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Cell Phone Forensics Team reported that the last cell phone ping from the pilot’s cell phone was near Mount Pulaski, Illinois, at 0759 on August 7. An Illinois CAP aircrew was deployed from DuPage Airport (DPA), West Chicago, Illinois, to the Mount Pulaski area on August 10 and located the airplane wreckage near Elkhart, Illinois, about 11 nm west of Mount Pulaski and 87 nm west of DNV. At the time of the last annual inspection, the airplane wa
Probable cause
An off-airport landing in a soybean field for reasons that could not be determined. Contributing to the severity of the pilot’s injuries and airplane damage was a fire that occurred at an unknown time.
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Browse: Illinois
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
