What happened
The pilot departed with 70 gallons of fuel, providing approximately 3.5 hours of endurance. After a flight duration of roughly 3.0 hours, the engine quit during the pre-landing checklist phase. At the time of the engine failure, the left fuel gauge indicated between 10 and 11 gallons remaining.
The pilot attempted to switch the fuel selector to the right tank, which indicated 8 gallons, but subsequently switched back to the left tank because the left gauge showed a higher quantity. An attempt to restart the engine was unsuccessful. During the landing, the pilot flared several feet high, causing the stall warning horn to sound and resulting in a hard landing.
The investigation
Post-accident inspection of the aircraft revealed that the left fuel tank contained only 0.75 gallons of fuel. While the right fuel tank was compromised during the landing impact, testing of the gauges was performed by adding 5 gallons of fuel to both the repaired right tank and the left tank. The right fuel gauge functioned correctly, but the left fuel gauge indicated only 3 gallons.
The pilot noted that the left fuel gauge had a history of intermittent inaccuracies dating back to 1996. It was also noted that the aircraft's listed unusable fuel is 5 gallons.