Ravalli County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hamilton, Montana 59840
Tuesady, July 18, 2000 8:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Although the person piloting the aircraft had recently been issued a third class medical/student pilots certificate, he had not received instruction in an airplane for over 20 years, and did not have an endorsement to fly an airplane solo. Nevertheless, he undertook a flight to reposition the aircraft from his private airstrip to the location where he planned to take flight instruction. While attempting to land at that location, the pilot allowed the aircraft to contact the runway while in an excessive rate of descent. The impact was hard enough to collapse the nose gear, damage the firewall, shatter the gasculator bowl, fracture a fuel line fitting, and result in the aircraft bouncing back into the air. The aircraft then hit the runway hard a second time, whereupon it slid along the surface with flames emanating from the aft area of the engine compartment. By the time the aircraft came to a stop, much of the forward half was engulfed in flames. Although the pilot was able to exit the aircraft unassisted, he later succumbed to the extensive thermal injuries he sustained during the accident sequence.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The excessive rate at which the student pilot allowed the aircraft to descend into the runway surface while attempting to land. Factors include the pilot's lack of experience in airplanes.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/18/2000
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 830
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City HAMILTON
Event State MONTANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 59840
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport RAVALLI COUNTY AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 6S5
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 3638
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 885
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 18 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record May 25 2001 4:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N93835
NTSB Number SEA00LA136
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Ercoupe
Aircraft Model 415-D
Aircraft Series Identifier 415-D
Aircraft Serial Number 1158
Certified Max Gross Weight 1400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 24 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1090
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROY A. WILHELM
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3800 BIG FLAT RD.
Aircraft Owner City MISSOULA
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59804
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City MISSOULA
Departure State MT
Departure Country
Departure Time 810
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 6S5
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 25 2001 4:10AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 4200
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --