What happened
While approximately 30 miles from the destination airport, approach control notified the pilot of thunderstorm activity and lowered cloud ceilings over the field. Simultaneously, the pilot reported a low fuel condition, prompting controllers to vector the Piper PA-34, registration N5016T, toward a second airport.
After performing a missed approach at the second airport, the crew was vectored toward a third airport. During the descent for this third location, the pilot reported that the left engine had quit because it ran out of fuel. In an attempt to manage the emergency, the pilot executed an emergency landing on a power line right-of-way.
The investigation
Investigation into the aircraft's performance and fuel state revealed that the aircraft was operating at a gross weight of 4,000 pounds with engines set at 65% power. Under these conditions, the combined fuel consumption for both engines is 18.3 gallons per hour, providing a maximum flight duration of 5.08 hours.
The pilot reported departing with 100 gallons of fuel on board. According to the aircraft information manual, N5016T has a usable fuel capacity of 93 U.S. gallons, with an additional seven gallons being unusable. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had been in flight for 5.72 hours, exceeding the calculated maximum endurance.