History of the Flight
The pilot, flying a recently imported Europa XS (registration G-JAGY) from Wellesbourne Mountford airfield, was on a local flight to gain experience with the aircraft. The fuel level sight gauge indicated ¾ full. Approximately fifteen minutes into the flight, while 3 nm east-north-east of the airfield at 1,400 ft, the engine stopped abruptly. The pilot determined he did not have sufficient height to glide back and turned south to avoid a village. A MAYDAY call was made to Wellesbourne Information, and the pilot attempted unsuccessfully to restart the engine using the starter motor.
A large field was selected for landing, which was downwind with a slight downslope. The aircraft touched down on the main landing gear, but the nose landing gear leg dug into the soft ground—due to recent wet weather—causing the aircraft to nose-over and come to rest inverted. The pilot sustained minor injuries and reported difficulty egressing due to damage to the upper fuselage and broken canopy. He recalled hearing at least one electric fuel pump running while still in the aircraft, with all switches in normal flight positions.
Aircraft Examination
Post-accident examination by the Light Aircraft Association (LAA) did not establish the reason for the engine failure. The engine crankshaft turned normally with compression on all cylinders, spark plugs showed no abnormalities, both electric fuel pumps functioned when powered, and fuel filters were not clogged.
During the initial LAA Permit to Fly inspection after importation from the USA, the pilot and an LAA inspector had replaced the fuel pressure regulator, fuel filters, turbo control unit, and both carburettors. The aircraft had flown about 10 hours since the permit was issued without any engine or fuel system issues.
The LAA examination also identified that the aircraft's instrument panel featured switches to control power to each electric fuel pump. This arrangement did not comply with the Europa XS build manual, which requires the primary pump to be powered directly from the engine's alternator with a 5-amp circuit breaker, ensuring it runs whenever the engine is on. The non-standard configuration was not detected during the initial inspection despite LAA guidance to check compliance with the approved design. However, there was no evidence that this variation caused the engine failure, and the pilot reported hearing at least one pump running after the accident.
Conclusion
The cause of the engine failure was not established.