Accident Overview
On February 16, 2013, at 1703 central standard time, a Bellanca 17-30A, registration N93747, was substantially damaged during a forced landing on a road after the engine lost power near Morris Municipal Airport (C09), Morris, Illinois. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight originated from C09 at 1644.
Flight Details
The pilot reported that the purpose of the flight was to give his son, also a private pilot, an orientation ride in the Bellanca, allowing him to fly the airplane. They conducted one touch-and-go landing on runway 36. While turning from downwind onto the base leg for a second landing, the engine lost power. The airplane was approximately 1,400 feet above mean sea level, in landing configuration, and about 3 miles from the runway. The pilot took control and executed a forced landing on a road roughly 4 miles south of the airport. During the landing roll, the right wing struck a wooden road sign. The airplane swerved right, left the road, and came to rest in a plowed field. Postaccident examination revealed punctures in both wings, and collapse of the nose and right main landing gear.
Fuel Management
The pilot stated that on February 15, 2013, the day before the accident, he had flown from Meadow Lake Airport (KFLY), Colorado Springs, Colorado, to C09. Prior to departure, the airplane was fueled to capacity (79 gallons total, 75 gallons usable). The flight was estimated to take 5 hours 30 minutes, with fuel consumption estimated at 11.5 gallons per hour. The airplane was not refueled after arriving at C09 or before the accident flight.
Postaccident Examination
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector responded to the accident site and found only residual fuel in the left and right wing tanks. No other anomalies were observed. The inspector removed the Insight Instrument Corporation’s G3 engine monitoring system and downloaded data, which showed a drop in fuel flow, manifold pressure, and oil pressure consistent with fuel flow interruption followed by fuel exhaustion. The accident flight lasted 18 minutes 56 seconds.
According to FlightAware.com, the flight from KFLY to C09 took 5 hours 46 minutes, with an estimated minimum fuel burn of 12 gallons per hour. The cruise profile included 2 hours at 15,000 feet, a descent to 5,000 feet, then a climb to 10,000 feet for the remaining 2.5 hours. This was corroborated by the G3 engine monitoring system data.
The FAA inspector prepared a Preflight Planning Tool that computed the 754-mile flight would take 5 hours 23 minutes and consume 67 gallons of fuel, leaving approximately 4 gallons per fuel tank for the accident flight.