Incident Overview
During a dark night visual flight rules (VFR) cruise, the airplane experienced a complete loss of engine power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. After manually extending the landing gear, the pilot executed a forced landing into a muddy plowed field.
Forced Landing and Damage
During the landing roll, the nose landing gear collapsed, causing the airplane to nose over. Examination of the accident site revealed no fuel spillage or tank compromise. No evidence of fuel leakage was found on the airframe or wings.
Fuel Examination
Inspection of the fuel tanks showed they were empty except for unusable fuel. The pilot reported that the airplane had been topped off with 56 gallons of fuel approximately 1.2 hours before the accident.
Engine Test
Following the accident, the engine was removed and test-run. It operated normally with no anomalies detected.
Probable Cause
The investigation did not provide a stated probable cause.