What happened
The airplane departed from runway 26 while performing the fifth glider tow of the day. During the climb, as the aircraft reached an altitude of approximately 400 feet AGL, the engine lost power. The pilot responded by executing a forced landing into a nearby pasture.
As the aircraft touched down, it crossed a dirt road, at which point the left main gear collapsed. The pilot was not injured during the event.
The investigation
Prior to the first tow of the day, the pilot had conducted a detailed preflight inspection and confirmed the aircraft was serviced with 20 gallons of fuel. While this amount of fuel is typically sufficient for six or seven tows, the pilot noted that the tows on the day of the accident were exceptionally long due to high density altitude and general subsidence of the air mass.
An examination of the aircraft's fuel system determined that both fuel cells were empty at the time of the accident.