- Date
- September 26, 2025, 09:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Havasu City, AZ · Dirt field
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8171SCessna 150F
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 201794
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On September 26, 2025, at about 0915 mountain standard time, a Cessna 150F, N8171S, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The flight instructor and student pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight. The flight instructor reported he and the student pilot were relocating the recently purchased airplane from Marana Regional Airport (AVQ), Marana, Arizona to Boulder City Municipal Airport (BVU), Boulder City, Nevada with a planned fuel stop in Lake Havasu City Airport (HII), Lake Havasu, City, Arizona. He added that the night prior to the accident, the fuel tanks were topped off with fuel. Prior to departure, a preflight inspection was performed, which included a visual inspection of the fuel in the tanks and sumping of the tanks. No abnormalities were noted. During the flight, about 15 miles southeast of HII, the engine experienced a partial loss of power. After performing the emergency checklists, he was unable to restore engine power. The flight instructor stated that they were unable to maintain altitude and elected to initiate a forced landing to a highway. Due to the high amount of traffic on the highway, the flight instructor diverted to an open area nearby which was used for remote control airplane operations. During the approach to the field, the airplane overflew their intended landing area, struck a dirt berm and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. The wreckage was recovered to a secure location for further examination.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8171S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15061771
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 9,521.8
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 8, 2024
- Departed
- AVQ · Marana, AZ
- Destination
- HII · Lake Havasu City, AZ
- Airport
- HII · Lake Havasu City, runway 14/32, 8,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B, Stall warning system
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- KHII, 6 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KHII 261615Z AUTO 18008KT 10SM CLR 29/11 A2979
Other investigations on N8171S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.