Floyd G Halderman Jr RV-6 N851FH

Summary

On 25 September 2025 at about 20:30 local time, a Floyd G Halderman Jr RV-6 registered N851FH was involved in an accident near Cambridge, Minnesota, 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

25 September 2025 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Cambridge, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Cambridge Muni (CBG)

Coordinates

45.5657, -93.2259

Aircraft

Floyd G Halderman Jr RV-6

Registration

N851FH

Category

Airplane

Year built

2018

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Blaine → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN25LA393

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s continued operation of the faulty fuel selector valve which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the degraded operation of the fuel selector valve and the pilot’s poor decision to operate the airplane without first addressing the maintenance issue.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he and a group of other pilots had recently purchased the airplane. He noted that the airplane’s fuel selector was difficult to turn. A new selector valve was planned for installation but had not yet been installed. During the accident flight, when he was nearing his destination, the pilot switched to the fullest fuel tank. When the airplane was on final approach the engine lost all power, and the pilot executed a forced landing short of the intended runway. The airplane nosed over during the forced landing and sustained substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. After the accident, when the pilot was securing the airplane, he recognized that the selector valve was not fully open, and this had led to the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. The pilot noted in his accident report narrative that the valve was difficult to rotate and also difficult to determine if it was in a detent position, and that he should have grounded the airplane until the replacement selector valve was installed. No service documentation for the fuel selector valve was found during the investigation. Ensuring operation of the valve should be part of the condition inspection for the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.