Accident Overview
During a round-robin flight, the pilot reported to air traffic control that the engine had stopped. The airplane subsequently crashed approximately 25 miles from the intended destination airport. The pilot, who was the only person onboard, was not injured.
Environmental Conditions
The ambient temperature at the time was 27 degrees above standard.
Post-Accident Examination
Inspection of the wreckage disclosed that the fuel quantity remaining was less than the unusable amount. Fuel calculations based on the pilot's account indicated that the airplane should have completed the flight with about 1.3 gallons of fuel remaining, which was less than the required reserves. These calculations assumed proper climb performance and fuel leaning procedures as reported by the pilot.
Findings
The primary finding was fuel exhaustion, with less than unusable fuel remaining in the tanks. The engine failure was directly attributed to the lack of usable fuel.