Forced Landing and Collision After Fuel Exhaustion (N93784)

Incident Overview and Pilot Background The pilot, who served as a medical officer at an Air National Guard Base, completed a 30-minute orientation flight for a service member before departing for his home airport. The pilot held 99 total flight hours, with approximately 59 of those hours logged in the specific make and model of the aircraft. ## Flight Sequence and Emergency Approximately two miles from the destination airport, the pilot transmitted a Mayday call, stating, “I'm out of gas and...I cannot make the airport.” The pilot subsequently executed a forced landing in the westbound lanes of a highway. During the landing, the aircraft collided head-on with a van. ## Post-Accident Examination Wreckage examination revealed no odor of fuel at the scene, and one gallon of fuel was drained from the tanks. The Hobbs meter indicated 3.8 hours of flight time since the pilot's first takeoff. The aircraft had a total fuel capacity of 26 gallons, with 24.5 gallons designated as usable.