What happened
While en route to his destination, the pilot reported that the engine lost power while flying over wooded mountainous terrain. In response to the power loss, the pilot attempted to turn the aircraft back to land downwind on a sandbar. During the maneuver, the pilot overshot the intended landing area and touched down in a patch of willows.
Prior to the incident, the pilot had fully serviced the aircraft and had been in flight for one hour. The pilot's initial calculations indicated that there were four hours of fuel remaining, whereas the total flight duration was expected to be only two hours and 40 minutes.
The investigation
Post-accident examination of the fuel tanks revealed that the left wing tank contained 5 gallons of fuel, while the right tank contained less than one pint. According to the aircraft's flight manual, this amount of remaining fuel left only 1.5 gallons of usable fuel available. Although the pilot reported experiencing light turbulence during the flight, calculations determined that the aircraft required an additional 5.4 gallons of fuel to complete the intended flight.