- Date
- May 16, 2022, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Angola, IN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3530HErcoupe 415-C
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20220516006429A
- Case key
- 105121
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane while landing in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing and the nose landing gear collapse.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he completed a normal traffic pattern and was on final approach in gusting wind conditions. About 10 ft above the runway, the airplane encountered a gust of wind, and the pilot was unable to control the descent rate. The airplane landed hard, and the nose landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the firewall, fuselage, and right wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3530H
- Reported as
- Ercoupe 415-C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4155
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 4,464.7
- Engine
- Continental Motors C85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ultraflight LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 30, 2021
- Departed
- OEB · Coldwater, MI
- Destination
- ANQ · Angola, IN
- Airport
- ANQ · Tri-State Steuben County Airport, runway 23, 4,540 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- July 14, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 317 total · 27 in this make and model · 8 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 16 knots, gusting 26
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KGWB, 20 nm away
- METAR
- KGWB 161815Z AUTO 28010G19KT 10SM SCT070 SCT085 22/08 A2983 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 1, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.