NTSB CHI85LA172 — 1985-04-21 · ST. PAUL, Minnesota, United States

Current FAA registration · N94740

Make / Model: ENGINEERING & RESEARCH ERCOUPE 415-CD
Year of manufacture: 1946 · 39 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR C85 SERIES (85 hp)
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19751107
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S AD2A26

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N94740 Ercoupe (Eng & Research Corp.) 415-CD None

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, WHILE CLIMBING THRU APRX 700 FT AGL, THE ENG DEVELOPED A SEVERE VIBRATION & A LOUD 'CLANKING' SOUND. THESE WERE FOLLOWED BY A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER. DURING A SUBSEQUENT FORCED LANDING, THE ACFT'S RIGHT WING HIT A TREE & THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED ON ROUGH TERRAIN. AN EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT THE #3 EXHAUST VALVE, PN 3921, HAD FAILED NEAR THE STEM-HEAD. THE ENG HAD 1040 HRS IN SERVICE SINCE MAJOR OVERHAUL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_CHI85LA172.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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