- Date
- May 31, 2000, 18:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Stockbridge, GA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2589HErcoupe 415-C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report May 17, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000531007439A
- Case key
- 49318
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
an in-flight collision with trees while maneuvering, which was the result of the pilot not allowing adequate altitude to clear the trees before starting a turn.
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
The airplane was seen flying low over a private airstrip at an altitude of 3 to 4 feet above the ground. The pilot stated he was going 'to practice landing approaches.' According to the statement in the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, '...about two-thirds of the distance down runway 9, on this approach, he [pilot] pulled up, banked right, and his right wing hit the top of a pine tree. The plane crashed in the trees on the west side of runway 33.' The airplane traveled about 1,500 feet and came to rest in a tree.
Factual narrative
On May 31, 2000, about 1845 eastern daylight time, an Ercoupe 415-C, N2589H, registered to a private individual impacted with trees while maneuvering near Stockbridge, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight. The airplane received substantial damage. The private-rated pilot reported serious injuries. The airplane had departed the Berry Hill Airport, Stockbridge, Georgia, about 1830.
The airplane was seen flying low over a private airstrip at an altitude of 3 to 4 feet above the ground. At the end of the airstrip the airplane pulled up, banked to the right (west), and the right wing tip struck a tree. The airplane traveled about 1,500 feet and came to rest in a tree.
The pilot stated he was going "to practice landing approaches." He was on the second practice approach to runway 9, and according to the statement in the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, "...about two-thirds of the distance down runway 9, on this approach, he [pilot] pulled up, banked right, and his right wing hit the top of a pine tree. The plane crashed in the trees on the west side of runway 33."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2589H
- Reported as
- Ercoupe 415-C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3214
- Airframe hours
- 3,555
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Joesph L. Knight Jr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1999 · 26 hours before
- Departed
- 4A0
- Airport
- 8A5 · Gorden Bellah, runway 9, 3,000 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 278 total · 23 in this make and model · 199 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 110° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Observed at
- ATL, 2 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.