20170219001429A

On February 19, 2017, about 1315EASTERN standard time, a 1946 Ercoupe 415-C, N99716, lost oil pressure and landed on the shoulder of a county road in Dawsonville, Georgia. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot suffered minor injuries and was transported to the local hospital by EMS personnel. The airplane was registered to a private individual and was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR part 91 as a personal flight. Day, visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local, personal flight. The flight originated about 1100.

On February 19, 2017 an FAA inspector from the atlanta FSDO was dispatched to the scene in order to determine the cause of the accident. At the accident site the FAA was met by members of the local police and fire department. An initial examination of the wreckage site revealed that the aircraft had come to rest in a ditch nose down with the tail of the aircraft positioned vertically in the air. Both wings suffered major damage from the impact as fuel was leaking profusely from both wing tanks. The engine compartment displayed extensive damage with the engine mounts and engine firewall receiving the majority of destruction. The right side of the horizontal tail section had been severely damaged. The propeller received minimal damage and displayed bend characteristics of an engine not making power. The nose landing gear had been completely destroyed on impact as a result of the uneven terrain landing. The engine oil tank contained over 3 quarts of oil with a maximum capacity of 4 quarts. A large amount of oil residue was present from the bottom of the engine cowling all the way down the belly of the aircraft to the tail section. The engine compartment was relatively free of oil residue as it appeared that the oil had been blown out the oil breather tube which runs out the bottom of the engine cowling. Finally, the aircraft was recovered and transported to atlanta air salvage in griffin, Georgia for further evaluation.

During the interview with the pilot he stated that he had just recently purchased the aircraft and had departed jackson co. Georgia airport enroute to lafayette, Georgia airport. After reaching 3000? He noticed a sudden decrease in oil pressure while flying near Dawsonville, Georgia. The pilot stated that the oil pressure continued to drop as he believed the engine was going to quit and decided to make an emergency landing on a county road. The pilot stated that the engine never quit nor was it running erratically when he made the decision to pull the power back and land the aircraft. According to the pilot the only indication of a malfunction was the loss of oil pressure and there were no reported issues with oil temperature. The pilot further explained that the oil pressure never reached ?0? PSI but appeared that it may get that low so he made a decision to land the aircraft before getting too FAR in the approaching mountainous terrain of north Georgia. According to the pilots written statement it was noted that the pilot added oil on several occasions the day of and before his intended cross country flight. Further discussion revealed that the pilot wasn?t very familiar with this type of aircraft and may have been adding oil after each engine run and not allowing the hot oil to cool and drain back into the oil pan before taking an accurate reading.

NTSB report ERA17LA109 has the incorrect accident time. NTSB has been notified to correct their report to reflect 1315 EST.