What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Aircraft departed from tehachape, California for a day VFR flight to prescott, Arizona, with a planned fuel stop at bullhead city, Arizona. While in cruise flight, at a location approximately nineteen miles sothwest of bullhead city, Arizona, the aircraft engine began running rough and subsequently quit running.
The pilot attempted to land the aircraft on a mesa, located within a bureau of land management(blm) wilderness area, approximately seventeen miles southwest of bullhead city, Arizona. During the process of landing on the unimproved surface, the aircraft appeared to have impacted the rim of the mesa and sustained major damage.
The pilot and three passengers were transported from the crash site by medical helicopters, due to the remote nature of the site. The pilot and one of the passengers were admitted to nearby hospitals with serious injuries. One passenger was treated and released with serious injuries and one passenger was treated and released, with minor injuries.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the aircraft did not appear to have any usable fuel on board at the time of the crash, though pilot claimed to have drained out all fuel after the crash to prevent post crash fire. No other pre-crash damage found.
As the FAA filed it
AIRCRAFT DEPARTED FROM TEHACHAPE, CALIFORNIA FOR A DAY VFR FLIGHT TO PRESCOTT, ARIZONA, WITH A PLANNED FUEL STOP AT BULLHEAD CITY, ARIZONA. WHILE IN CRUISE FLIGHT, AT A LOCATION APPROXIMATELY NINETEEN MILES SOTHWEST OF BULLHEAD CITY, ARIZONA, THE AIRCRAFT ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH AND SUBSEQUENTLY QUIT RUNNING.
THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO LAND THE AIRCRAFT ON A MESA, LOCATED WITHIN A BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT(BLM) WILDERNESS AREA, APPROXIMATELY SEVENTEEN MILES SOUTHWEST OF BULLHEAD CITY, ARIZONA. DURING THE PROCESS OF LANDING ON THE UNIMPROVED SURFACE, THE AIRCRAFT APPEARED TO HAVE IMPACTED THE RIM OF THE MESA AND SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE.
THE PILOT AND THREE PASSENGERS WERE TRANSPORTED FROM THE CRASH SITE BY MEDICAL HELICOPTERS, DUE TO THE REMOTE NATURE OF THE SITE. THE PILOT AND ONE OF THE PASSENGERS WERE ADMITTED TO NEARBY HOSPITALS WITH SERIOUS INJURIES. ONE PASSENGER WAS TREATED AND RELEASED WITH SERIOUS INJURIES AND ONE PASSENGER WAS TREATED AND RELEASED, WITH MINOR INJURIES.
SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE ANY USABLE FUEL ON BOARD AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH, THOUGH PILOT CLAIMED TO HAVE DRAINED OUT ALL FUEL AFTER THE CRASH TO PREVENT POST CRASH FIRE. NO OTHER PRE-CRASH DAMAGE FOUND.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.