- Date
- April 16, 1983, 14:12 local (20:12 UTC)
- Place
- Prague, OK
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N87131Ercoupe 415-C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 20878
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
After purchasing the acft, the new owner (a student plt) had asked his uncle (reportedly an experienced plt) to fly his acft home. During the flt, the eng lost power shortly after the plt leveled off at 4000 ft MSL (aprx 3000 ft AGL). There was no suitable landing area, so the plt stalled the acft into the tops of the trees. An exam of the eng revealed that the fuel pump was completely filled with water. Spring loaded valves in the fuel pump effectively trapped the water in the pump after the eng stopped running. A further investigation revealed that the acft was overdue for an annual inspection & no ferry permit had been issued. Although the plt had reportedly been flying for many years, he possessed no FAA plt or medical certificate.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N87131
- Reported as
- Ercoupe 415-C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 304
- Engine
- Continental C-75-12, 75 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- Jerry Wilson
- Registered owner
- Roger W. Anderson
- Destination
- GLE · Gainesville, TX
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
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 315° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
Other investigations on N87131 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.