What happened
On 18 May 2010, a Mainair Blade 912, registration G-MZKM, was conducting a private flight from Oxton airfield. While cruising at an altitude of 2,000 feet, the aircraft's Rotax 912-UL engine lost power, necessitating a descent.
Due to the circumstances of the flight, the pilot faced a restricted selection of suitable landing sites. The pilot chose a field near Lambley, Nottingham, for the forced landing. The aircraft touched down perpendicularly across the furrows of the field. Upon coming to a stop, a fire ignited. The pilot managed to exit the aircraft without injury, but the fire spread rapidly, and the aircraft was subsequently destroyed.
The investigation
The investigation examined the circumstances surrounding the engine failure and the subsequent fire. Investigators looked into the impact of the landing surface, noting that the aircraft's passage across the field furrows may have caused a fuel pipe to detach. This detachment likely provided the fuel necessary to sustain the fire. However, the investigation found that there was not enough evidence to definitively establish why the engine lost power in the first place.