Event Details
During arrival, the aircraft was on the base leg for landing when the engine began to lose power. The pilot was unable to restore full power and executed a forced landing in an unimproved area approximately 2 miles from the airport. During the landing rollout, the right wing tip struck a large wooden fence post before the pilot was able to stop the aircraft.
Fuel Status
Following the accident, approximately 1 gallon of fuel was drained from the fuel tanks during a post-crash investigation. The aircraft's fuel capacity was 40 gallons, of which 0.77 gallons were unusable. After a previous flight from Roswell, New Mexico, to Addison, Texas, 27 gallons of fuel were added. The pilot stated that the fuel gauge indicated full prior to takeoff; however, he did not visually check the fuel during his preflight inspection. Approximately 10 minutes prior to arrival at Roswell, the right tank indicated empty and the left tank indicated about 1/8 full. The total elapsed time of the flight was 3 hours and 42 minutes, in addition to a 20-minute ground delay after starting the engine.