Event WPR15LA055

Factual narrative

On December 6, 2014, about 1200 mountain standard time, an experimental Fouga CM 170R Magister, N300FM, landed hard during a forced landing near Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to all components of the airframe during the accident sequence. The cross-country personal flight departed Grand Canyon, Arizona, at 1100, with Lake Havasu as the planned destination. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.The pilot stated that he had encountered a gyro problem on the flight segment to the Grand Canyon Airport, but otherwise had no issues with the airplane. He added fuel at Grand Canyon, and should have had about 1.5 hours of fuel remaining when both engines flamed out while descending through 5,000 feet on approach to Lake Havasu. The pilot reported that he would not be able to glide to the airport. He observed a short asphalt strip nearby, and attempted to land there. Due to the short length, he landed firmly with about 1,000 feet remaining. He was unable to stop on the asphalt, and the airplane continued about 200 feet into rough terrain. The cockpit remained intact, but the rest of the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane's flight manual described the fuel system. In normal flight, it stated that a submerged boost pump in the rear fuselage tank supplied fuel to both engines through a filter and a non-return valve. That pump also delivered fuel to the upper chamber of the negative-g flight accumulator, which was also supplied with pressure air from the engine air bleeds. The main fuel filter had a bypass pin inside the bowl, which moved up and down when the filter was partially blocked. This forced the bypass poppet valve to move up. The pilot and his mechanic examined the airplane after the accident, and observed the poppet valve in the full up position. The mechanic opined that this indicated a blockage in the fuel system; but, due to the damage, they did not attempt to find the blockage site. The commercial pilot/owner was conducting a cross-country personal flight in the experimental airplane and stopped at an intermediate airport for fuel. While descending to the destination airport, both engines flamed out. The pilot estimated that the airplane should have had about 1.5 hours of fuel remaining when the engine flameouts occurred. The pilot determined that the airplane would not be able to glide to the airport, so he attempted to land it on a short asphalt strip. The airplane touched down firmly with about 1,000 ft remaining. The pilot was unable to stop the airplane on the asphalt, and it continued about 200 ft off the end into rough terrain. The cockpit remained intact, but the rest of the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane had a submerged boost pump in the rear fuselage tank that supplied fuel to both engines through a filter and a nonreturn valve. The main fuel filter had a bypass pin inside the bowl, which moved up and down when the filter was partially blocked and forced the bypass poppet valve to move up. The pilot and his mechanic examined the airplane after the accident and observed that the poppet valve was in the full-up position. The mechanic suggested that this indicated that there was a blockage in the fuel system; however, due to the damage, he and the pilot did not attempt to find the blockage site. Based on the available evidence, both engines likely lost power due to fuel starvation as a result of an interruption of the fuel flow. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Not specified - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Fuel system-Fuel distribution-Not specified - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Contributed to outcome