The pilot was flying the Ercoupe 415C under a ferry permit to the destination airport. However, due to unsafe runway conditions at that airport, he chose to land at an alternate airport near St. Jacob, Illinois.
Upon arrival at the alternate airport, he executed an aborted landing. He applied engine power and climbed to about 150 to 200 feet, then the engine lost power without any warning.
During the forced landing, the airplane sustained substantial wing and firewall damage.
During a post-accident engine run using the Ercoupe’s header tank fuel, the engine started, ran roughly, and would not accelerate smoothly.
The header tank was drained, and fresh aviation fuel was added to the tank; the engine then ran smoothly and accelerated normally.
The engine likely lost power due to contaminated fuel.
Probable cause: The loss of engine power during the go-around due to fuel contamination.
NTSB Identification: CEN15LA177
This March 2015 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
If the fuel in the header tank was the apparent problem then why was there no analysis on what was wrong with it. If it was Mogas then that would be worth further comment and even if Avgas that would need some sort of explanation. You can’t just end with “Contaminated Fuel” and not elaborate on what was the source of contamination so that the problem can be avoided with in the future, that is why we pay these guys to write these reports.
According to the pilot “I was on a special flight permit in N87EV…There was no warning, no coughing,” Not much more information is in the Pilot/Operator report or the docket.
The accident investigation was cursory to the point of being useless.
Was the “special flight permit” because the aircraft was out of annual? Was the Ercoupe fueled with avgas or mogas? Did the pilot/owner use mogas with ethanol? If mogas, how old was it? That the engine ran just fine after the tank was drained suggests the problem was old gas, and maybe ethanol laced gas.
There’s not much to be learned from this report, other than be careful of the gas you put into the tank.
Hmmmm. I wonder what the “unsafe runway conditions” were at the destination airport. And are they something that would have been mentioned in a NOTAM? Not that that had anything to do with the power loss, but still…