What happened
During a short cross-country flight, an aircraft reached an altitude of 9,500 feet following its departure. While the pilot was flying the downwind leg toward the destination airport, the right engine experienced a loss of power. This was followed shortly thereafter by a loss of power in the left engine. Due to the failure of both engines, the pilot was forced to perform an emergency landing on a surface away from the airport.
Prior to the flight, the pilot had loaded 20 gallons of fuel into each wing tank. While the specific total volume of fuel on board at the time of departure could not be precisely confirmed, a post-incident inspection of the fuel system showed that the tanks were not breached. The investigation noted that a small amount of residual fuel remained in the tanks at the time of the landing.
Findings
- The aircraft experienced a dual engine power loss during the flight.
- The right engine failed first, followed by the left engine.
- No breaches were found in the fuel tanks during the examination of the fuel system.