What happened
On August 4, 2002, at approximately 19:55, a Nicollier HN 700 Ménestrel 2 (registration F-PJZG) crashed near the private airfield of Availles-Limouzine. The flight originated from Saint-Junien, with an intermediate stop at Chauvigny, and was a private pleasure flight.
An eyewitness, a pilot and owner of the destination airfield, observed the aircraft approaching from the north at an altitude of roughly 1,500 feet. The aircraft flew perpendicularly across the airfield at a low altitude of approximately 50 feet over runway 08 at a high speed of about 200 km/h. Following this, the aircraft performed a climbing turn, reaching an estimated altitude of 300 feet. As the aircraft entered a steep 60-degree right-hand bank, presumably to land on runway 26, the witness heard the engine stop. The aircraft then entered a steep dive, the engine noise was heard again, and the aircraft subsequently struck the ground and caught fire. The wreckage was found heavily burned.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the engine failure and the fuel management practices of the crew. The aircraft was an amateur-built design equipped with a Limbach L-2000E engine and two 36-liter fuel tanks. A custom LED-based fuel level indicator was installed, which used lights to represent fuel volume in 3-liter increments.
Data from a previous flight on July 27/28 indicated that after a two-hour flight, the rear tank contained approximately 12 liters. Given the aircraft's hourly consumption of 14 liters, the forward tank would have contained approximately 32 liters. During the accident flight, the fuel selector was found in the rear tank position. The investigation examined the crew's standard operating procedures, noting that the pilot typically used the forward tank for takeoff and landing, switching to the rear tank for cruise flight.
Findings
- The engine failure was caused by inadequate fuel management.
- The pilot was flying with the fuel selector set to the rear tank, which had likely been depleted.
- The engine failure occurred during high-workload, low-altitude maneuvering, which prevented an effective recovery.
- Two fatalities occurred as a result of the impact.