- Date
- September 3, 1982, 16:40 local (22:40 UTC)
- Place
- Englewood, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N87141Ercoupe 415C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 3, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820903044129A
- Case key
- 70602
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, a strong odor of fuel was detected by the aircrew. A few seconds later, there was a considerable loss of power. The engine continued to operate at reduced power, but the sink rate was too great to reach the runway. The aircraft nosed over during a landing on uneven terrain. An investigation revealed that a threaded coupling between the gascolator and carburetor failed from fatigue.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N87141
- Reported as
- Ercoupe 415C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 314
- Airframe hours
- 2,385
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Austin/Schweitzer/Murphy
- Registered owner
- Austin/Schweitzer/Murphy
- Departed
- APA · Englewood, CO
- Destination
- APA · Englewood, CO
- Airport
- APA · Arapahoe County
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
- 54
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 7,343 total · 41 in this make and model · 5,731 as pilot in command · 241 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 183 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.