Plane Crash Reports 2003

2003 Plane Crash Report Result

Title: RCOUPE 415-C, N99748, REGISTERED TO AND OPERATED BY THE PRIVATE P

Report Date: 08/21

Plane Crash Problem: On August 17, 2003, at 1848 eastern daylight time, an Ercoupe 415-C, N99748, registered to and operated by the private pilot, collided into a pasture in Rome, Georgia. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The private pilot and commercial pilot-rated passenger received fatal injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Richard B. Russell Airport, Rome, Georgia, about 1840 on August 17, 2003. A witness about a mile south of the accident site reported seeing the airplane flying from the north about 1,000 to 1,500 feet above the ground. He stated he heard the airplane's engine rpm die down suddenly for about four or five seconds, then he heard the engine come back up, and the airplane made a left turn back toward the north and began to descend. The witness stated that, as the plane turned left, a flash or flame appeared from the underside of the airplane. A second witness in a separate location about a mile south of the accident site reported hearing sputtering engine noises that sounded like an airplane engine stopping and starting back up, and he looked up and saw the airplane turning left and descending. He stated he saw two flashes of orange flame originate from the front of the airplane and flash rearward across the bottom of the fuselage. Witnesses drove to look for the airplane and found it in a hilly cow pasture 7.4 nautical miles southeast of the Richard B. Russell Airport, Rome, Georgia. Examination of the accident site revealed the airplane came to rest inverted approximately three feet from the initial impact ground crater. The crater was approximately 12 inches deep with fragments of one wooden propeller blade embedded in the dirt. The cabin area, fuselage and empennage displayed crush damage and buckling. Both wings were crushed from the leading edge aft, and the wing fuel tanks and fuselage fuel tank were crushed and breached. The ailerons, elevator, and rudders were attached to the airframe. There was no soot or fire damage observed in the cabin or on the fuselage.

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