- Date
- September 25, 2025, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cambridge, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N851FHFloyd G Halderman JR RV-6
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250925017109A
- Case key
- 201720
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s continued operation of the faulty fuel selector valve which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the degraded operation of the fuel selector valve and the pilot’s poor decision to operate the airplane without first addressing the maintenance issue.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he and a group of other pilots had recently purchased the airplane. He noted that the airplane’s fuel selector was difficult to turn. A new selector valve was planned for installation but had not yet been installed. During the accident flight, when he was nearing his destination, the pilot switched to the fullest fuel tank. When the airplane was on final approach the engine lost all power, and the pilot executed a forced landing short of the intended runway. The airplane nosed over during the forced landing and sustained substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. After the accident, when the pilot was securing the airplane, he recognized that the selector valve was not fully open, and this had led to the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. The pilot noted in his accident report narrative that the valve was difficult to rotate and also difficult to determine if it was in a detent position, and that he should have grounded the airplane until the replacement selector valve was installed. No service documentation for the fuel selector valve was found during the investigation. Ensuring operation of the valve should be part of the condition inspection for the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N851FH
- Reported as
- Floyd G Halderman JR RV-6
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 25086
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 350
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E3D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Anerv6a LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · May 15, 2025 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- ANE · Blaine, MN
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CBG · Cambridge Muni, runway 16/34, 4,001 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 19, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,400 total · 10 in this make and model · 2,400 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- KCBG, 2 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KCBG 252035Z AUTO 22009KT 10SM CLR 27/15 A2988 RMK AO2 T02690149=
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 12, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.