Incident Overview
During an approach to an airport, a pilot experienced the failure of the left engine, followed immediately by the right engine. The pilot had previously cancelled his instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan and was proceeding visually. After the engine stoppages, he realized that he had not switched from the auxiliary fuel tanks to the main fuel tanks prior to the approach, resulting in exhaustion of the auxiliary fuel supply.
Emergency Response and Landing
With insufficient altitude to attempt an engine restart, the pilot executed a forced landing in a bean field short of the airport. After the aircraft came to a stop, the occupants egressed. Subsequently, the fuselage was consumed in a post-crash fire.
Contributing Factors
According to the official investigation, the probable cause of the incident was the pilot's failure to select the main fuel tanks prior to the approach, which led to fuel starvation and the resulting engine stoppage.