- Date
- April 20, 2000, 10:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place
- Lindsay, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N99470Ercoupe 415-D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 8, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000420005139A
- Case key
- 49008
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 student pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions. A factor was the downdraft wind condition.
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
During an approach to the runway, the student pilot allowed the airplane to descend and impact the top of an embankment and a fence located prior to the runway. According to the pilot, the airplane had encountered a downdraft. At 1053, the reported wind at the nearest reporting point, located 24 nautical miles south of the accident site, was from 310 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 19 knots. According to an FAA inspector, the student pilot 'was not and had never been endorsed by an authorized flight instructor for solo flight.' Prior to the accident, the student pilot had accumulated 14 total flight hours, of which 11 hours were in the accident airplane.
Factual narrative
On April 20, 2000, at 1045 central daylight time, an Ercoupe 415-D single-engine airplane, N99470, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during an approach to Freedom Field Airport near Lindsay, Texas. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual. The student pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The local flight originated from the Freedom Field Airport, approximately 1000.
The student pilot reported that while attempting to land on runway 35, the airplane encountered a downdraft. The airplane descended and impacted the top of an embankment and struck a fence located prior to the runway.
At 1053, the reported wind at the Denton Municipal Airport, Denton, Texas, located 24 nautical miles south of the accident site, was from 310 degrees at 15 knots gusting to 19 knots.
Examination of the airplane by the FAA inspector revealed that the nose landing gear was folded aft, the engine mount was fractured, and the firewall and wing spar were structurally damaged.
According to the FAA inspector, the student pilot "was not and had never been endorsed by an authorized flight instructor for solo flight." Prior to the accident, the student pilot had accumulated 14 total flight hours, of which 11 hours were in the accident airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N99470
- Reported as
- Ercoupe 415-D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2093
- Airframe hours
- 1,716
- Engine
- Continental C-75-12, 75 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Roger Dale Brown
- Registered owner
- Michael D. Brown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 27, 1999 · 33 hours before
- Departed
- TA22
- Airport
- TA22 · Freedom Field Airport, runway 35, 2,400 × 60 ft
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
- 49
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 14 total · 11 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 15 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DTO, 24 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.