What happened
The pilot operated a round-robin itinerary departing from and returning to his home airport. The flight was conducted without any intermediate refueling stops. During the final leg of the journey, the aircraft suffered a complete loss of engine power. In response to the emergency, the pilot initiated a forced landing procedure.
During the descent, the pilot reported that he allowed the airspeed to decay below the critical threshold, resulting in an aerodynamic stall. The aircraft subsequently impacted the ground during the forced landing attempt.
The investigation
Post-accident examination of the aircraft revealed that both fuel tanks contained only unusable fuel. This finding confirmed that the engine had ceased operation due to fuel starvation rather than mechanical failure or other operational errors.
Findings
The primary factor leading to the accident was fuel exhaustion. The pilot failed to account for the total fuel consumption required for the round-trip distance, resulting in a complete depletion of usable fuel reserves. This oversight directly caused the loss of power and the subsequent stall during the emergency landing phase.