Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On April 27, 1997, approximately 1200 mountain daylight time, an Ercoupe 415-C, N2326H, was destroyed when it struck and substantially damaged a parked Cessna 172N, N737RF, while taxiing for takeoff at Canon City, Colorado. The commercial pilot, the only occupant aboard, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91, and no flight plan was filed.

In a telephone interview, the pilot said he was taxiing to runway 29 in preparation for takeoff to Ogallala, Nebraska, en route home to Moose Lake, Minnesota. His attention was diverted, but he did not indicate how or why. The left wing of his airplane struck a parked Cessna 172N, causing his airplane to swerve left. His propeller then sliced through the parked Cessna.

Notification of this accident was via an insurance adjuster who had gone to the scene to adjust the loss. When asked why he had not reported the accident to either NTSB or FAA, the pilot said he thought all the necessary notifications had been made.

In his accident report, however, the pilot said he was taxiing to the gas pump. As he turned right onto a taxiway, the left wing of his airplane "bumped" a Cessna. N2326H turned left and his propeller "bumped" the wing of the Cessna, causing "little damage to either plane." He said both his airplane and the parked Cessna had been repaired and were currently flying. The insurance adjuster, however, reported N2326H was damaged beyond economical repair and N737RF, the parked Cessna, had sustained substantial damage. The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate visual lookout. A factor was the pilot's attention being diverted.