What happened
A personal cross-country flight departed from Arlington, Washington, with a brief stop in Grants Pass, Oregon. The aircraft departed Grants Pass at approximately 1100 hours, bound for Redding, California.
While the Cessna was on a 2.5-mile final approach to the destination airport, the engine experienced a loss of power. In response to the power loss, the pilot performed an emergency landing in a field. During the landing roll, the aircraft collided with a berm.
Findings
Investigation into the fuel state prior to the loss of power revealed that the right fuel tank was empty. The left fuel tank contained approximately 6 gallons of fuel remaining, while the fuel selector was set to the "both" position. According to the aircraft's Owner's Manual, 5 gallons of fuel is considered unusable per tank during non-level flight. The pilot did not perform any refueling stops while en route, leading to fuel exhaustion.