- Date
- April 9, 1997, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bushnell, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3263HErcoupe 415-C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970409005679A
- Case key
- 38258
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 a visual lookout and altitu de while on final approach to landing resulting in an in-flight collision with a fence and subsequent collision with terrain.
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 pilot stated he was 'little too low' and 'misjudged sink rate' while on final approach to landing. The nose gear collided with a barbed wire fence and the airplane collided with the ground.
Factual narrative
On April 9, 1997, about 1100 eastern daylight time, an Ercoupe 415-C, N3263H, registered to a private owner, crashed on a private grass strip in the vicinity of Bushnell, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The commercial-rated pilot and one passenger were not injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The flight was local and no flight plan was filed.
On final approach for landing, the airplane struck a barbed wire fence with the nose gear, bending it rearward, and collided with the ground, skidding to a stop. The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that he was "little too low" and "misjudged sink rate".
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3263H
- Reported as
- Ercoupe 415-C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3888
- Airframe hours
- 1,679
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Harold D Barnes
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 7, 1996 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- 09FD
- Airport
- 09FD · Cheryl-Lane, runway 36, 2,600 × 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
- 91
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11,656 total · 150 in this make and model · 8 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAL, 38 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.