# Accident 20240810012519A: Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415-C, Elkhart, IL, August 10, 2024

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 10, 2024, 22:43 local time
- Place: Elkhart, IL
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Other, Specify
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 40.0101° N, 89.4714° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Elkhart, IL, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.0101&lon=-89.4714&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3093H, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N3093H-2025-05-31) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415-C (registry code 0420312, https://openairdocs.org/model/engineering-research-ercoupe-415-c) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental C85 series (registry code 17008, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c85-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: ENGINEERING & RESEARCH ERCOUPE 415-C
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR C85 SERIES
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 5,001 total
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20240810012519A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON AUGUST 10, 2024, ABOUT 2000 CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME AN ERCOUPE 415-C, ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^, WAS FOUND IN A SOYBEAN FIELD NEAR ELKHART, ILLINOIS. THE PILOT WAS FATALLY INJURED. A POST IMPACT FIRE ENSUED, AND THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED. THE FLIGHT WAS OPERATED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF TITLE 14 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 91AS A PERSONAL FLIGHT. ON AUGUST 6, 2024, THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED ROBEN-HOOD AIRPORT (RQB) IN BIG RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ABOUT 1700 AND LANDED AT VERMILION REGIONAL AIRPORT (DNV) IN DANVILLE, ILLINOIS, ABOUT 1900. A FUEL RECEIPT CONFIRMED THAT THE PILOT FILLED THE AIRPLANE WITH 16.34 GALLONS OF FUEL AT DNV. A FRIEND OF THE PILOT STATED THAT THE PILOT CALLED HIM ON THE EVENING OF AUGUST 6TH AND TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS SPENDING THE NIGHT AT DNV AND WOULD DEPART THE MORNING OF AUGUST 7TH TO EMBARK ON A MULTI-LEG CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT THAT WOULD TERMINATE ON AUGUST 8TH IN COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO. WHEN THE PILOT DID NOT ARRIVE IN COLORADO SPRINGS, THE FRIEND REPORTED HIM MISSING ON AUGUST 10TH, AND THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION ISSUED AN ALERT NOTICE (ALNOT). THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH AUTOMATED DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE-BROADCAST, NOR DID IT HAVE AN OPERATING TRANSPONDER, SO TRACKING THE AIRPLANE AFTER IT DEPARTED DNV WAS DIFFICULT. THE CIVIL AIR PATROL 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 7TH. AN ILLINOIS CIVIL AIR PATROL AIRCREW WAS DEPLOYED TO THE MOUNT PULASKI AREA ON AUGUST 10TH AND LOCATED THE AIRPLANE WRECKAGE ABOUT 11 MILES WEST OF MOUNT PULASKI. THE DEBRIS FIELD WAS ON AN EAST TO WEST HEADING AND ABOUT 140 FT LONG. ABOUT 45 FT AFTER VEGETATION DISPLACEMENT, WAS THE RIGHT-WING TAXI LIGHT FOLLOWED BY THE SPINNER, 41 FT TO THE WEST. A BACK WINDOW, LEFT LANDING GEAR, AND TAIL CONE, WERE FOUND 29 FT TO THE WEST OF THE SPINNER. ABOUT 31 FT SOUTH OF WHERE THE BACK WINDOW, LEFT HAND LANDING GEAR, AND TAIL CONE WERE FOUND WAS A 3-FOOT SECTION OF THE OUTBOARD SIDE OF THE RIGHT WING. THE MAIN WRECKAGE WAS FOUND HALFWAY BETWEEN THAT PORTION OF THE RIGHT WING AND THE LEFT LANDING GEAR, 24.5 FT TO THE WEST. THE MAIN WRECKAGE CAME TO REST UPRIGHT ON A HEADING OF ABOUT 030°, WAS BURNED, AND CONSISTED OF THE FUSELAGE, RIGHT LANDING GEAR, LEFT WING, A PORTION OF THE RIGHT WING, EMPENNAGE, ENGINE, AND PROPELLER. THE AIRPLANE WAS RETAINED FOR FURTHER EXAMINATION.

## NTSB investigation

None matched to this report by aircraft and date. Search the NTSB's own records: https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/basic-search

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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