Introduction
On 3 June 2009, at approximately 1625 UTC, a Europa XS aircraft, registration G-FELL, was damaged during a forced landing in a field about one mile west of Ashcroft Airfield, near Manchester. The private flight was operated by a single pilot with no passengers. The pilot was uninjured, and the aircraft sustained damage to its fibreglass fairings, a bent nose leg, and one damaged main gear leg.
History of the Flight
The pilot, aged 68 with a National Private Pilot's Licence and 7,633 total flying hours (68 on type), had experienced a similar reduction in engine power the previous day on a flight from Oban to Glenforsa. During that flight, the engine spluttered and coughed twice before the pilot switched on the electric fuel pump, after which the engine ran smoothly. The pilot attributed the issue to vapour lock in the MOGAS fuel, as the aircraft had sat in warm sunshine and the fuel temperature likely exceeded 20°C.
The following day, the pilot discussed the symptoms with ground engineers at his home base, who also suggested vapour lock as the probable cause. The fuel filters were not suspected because they had recently been changed. The pilot then refuelled with 40 litres of AVGAS at Oban before departing for Strathaven, where he added 20 litres of MOGAS.
After refuelling, the pilot flew back toward England. The engine operated normally for almost two hours, but near the Manchester low level corridor, it began to lose power. The pilot activated the electric fuel pump, which resolved the issue temporarily. He transmitted that the engine was running rough and that he intended to land at Ashcroft. After some radio confusion, he initiated a slipping turn to attempt to reach Ashcroft's Runway 27.
Forced Landing
Realising that a tailwind would cause him to touch down too far down Runway 27, the pilot decided to fly a "dumbell" approach to Runway 09. During this manoeuvre, the engine surged, and the pilot executed a forced landing into a field. After landing, the aircraft rolled approximately 100 metres before contacting a barbed wire fence.
Pilot's Assessment
The pilot believes that the loss of engine power was caused by a partially blocked main fuel filter. He also considers that his lack of system knowledge contributed to the accident, noting that selecting the reserve fuel tank would likely have cleared the problem. Additionally, he believes he should have disregarded the radio transmissions when they became confused and focused solely on the forced landing.