Incident Details
While flying north of Lancaster at an altitude of 8,500 feet, the pilot requested an IFR clearance to descend below the cloud cover. After receiving the clearance, he began his descent and extended the landing gear. As the airplane descended through 4,000 feet, the front engine lost power. Within 30 seconds, the rear engine also lost power. The pilot recalled that both fuel gauges indicated 100 pounds of fuel at the time.
Pilot Actions
The pilot did not raise the landing gear, and because neither engine was equipped with unfeathering devices, he did not feather the propellers. Air traffic control vectored him toward an airport approximately 6 miles away. However, when he realized he would not be able to reach the airport, he executed a forced landing into a cornfield. Approximately 10 feet above the field, the right wing dropped, and the airplane impacted the ground in a right-wing-down, nose-down attitude.
Examination Findings
A Federal Aviation Administration Inspector examined the wreckage and found no evidence of pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. Approximately 2 gallons of fuel were drained from the wreckage. According to the Pilot's Operating Handbook recovered from the airplane, the total fuel tank capacity was 125 gallons, including 2 gallons of unusable fuel.