Accident Narrative
According to the pilot, he performed fuel consumption calculations for the flight and determined, based on the aircraft's performance charts, that the endurance was 5 hours and 42 minutes. The flight departed with full fuel tanks. Approximately 6 miles north of the destination airport, the engine began to run roughly and then quit. The pilot restarted the engine and advised air traffic control that the aircraft was low on fuel, but the engine quit again. Unable to restart it and facing unsuitable terrain, the pilot elected to ditch the aircraft in a lake short of the airport. All occupants escaped the aircraft and were rescued a short time later.
Pilot Statements
The elapsed time from departure to the accident was 4 hours and 32 minutes. The pilot further stated that the aircraft's clock was 30 to 40 minutes slow and that the fuel gauges were inaccurate. He described his procedure for leaning the fuel/air mixture: he pulls the mixture control until the engine begins to run roughly, then pushes it in until the engine runs smoothly. The aircraft's performance charts use an exhaust gas temperature (EGT) gauge as a reference; the gauge was installed.