Fouga CM 170R MAGISTER N300FM

Summary

On 6 December 2014 at about 19:00 local time, a Fouga CM 170R MAGISTER registered N300FM, operated by Michael Perry, was involved in an accident near Lake Havasu City, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 December 2014 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Havasu City, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

34.5667, -114.3500

Aircraft

Fouga CM 170R MAGISTER

Registration

N300FM

Category

Airplane

Year built

1964

Engines

2

Operator

Michael Perry

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Canyon → Lake Havasu City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR15LA055

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power to both engines during descent due to fuel starvation as a result of an interruption of the fuel flow, which resulted in a forced landing to a short strip and a subsequent overrun.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.