Accident Narrative
The pilot flew nine skydiving flights in a Cessna 182A on the day of the accident. Each flight lasted approximately 30 minutes. The airplane was refueled after about every other flight with about 12 gallons of fuel. Before takeoff for the tenth and final flight, the pilot estimated he had about 16 gallons of fuel remaining; however, he did not visually confirm the fuel quantity in the tanks and could not recall what the fuel gauges indicated.
During the tenth flight, the pilot dropped one skydiver at an altitude of 4,000 feet and two more at 10,000 feet. Upon returning to the airport, he flew an extended downwind leg to maintain separation from another landing airplane. While turning onto final approach, the pilot tried to increase engine power, but the engine did not respond. He continued toward the runway. During the descent, the airplane struck trees, impacted the ground, and flipped over, substantially damaging the left wing and fuselage.
Fuel Management and Examination
The airplane’s fuel system contained 3 gallons of unusable fuel. An examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that 4 gallons of fuel were drained from the left fuel tank and about 1 gallon was drained from the right fuel tank. The fuel selector was found set to both. The pilot believed, based on his 100 hours of experience in the accident airplane, that the airplane burned about 12 gallons of fuel per hour. According to the airplane pilot operating handbook (POH), the fuel burn rate was 12 to 14 gallons per hour, depending on varying performance conditions.
Mechanical Observations
Preimpact mechanical anomalies were identified during the examination. The nature of these anomalies was not specified in the source.