What happened
Following an initial unsuccessful attempt to reach a destination, the pilot departed from Rutherfordton for a second flight without refueling the aircraft. The aircraft had departed the first leg with 43.6 gallons of fuel on board. During the second departure, the aircraft was spotted approximately 4 miles north of Monroe at an altitude of roughly 400 feet. An observer noted that the right engine appeared to be sputtering as the plane passed overhead. Shortly after this observation, the aircraft type crashed into a nearby wooded area.
At the time of the accident, the pilot was the only person on board, and the crash resulted in one fatality.
Findings
An investigation of the wreckage revealed that the fuel system was completely empty at the time of the impact. Specifically, no fuel was detected within the left engine fuel flow divider. The engines had been running for approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes prior to the loss of power. Based on the aircraft's owner manual, the consumption rate at 75% power is roughly 16 gallons per hour for each engine. The primary cause of the crash was fuel exhaustion resulting from the failure to refuel between flight segments. Additionally, reports indicated that the pilot lacked sufficient familiarity with the aircraft's fuel system.