What happened
While operating under instrument flight rules (IFR), the pilot of the aircraft was forced to perform an emergency landing in a reservoir after the engines ceased functioning. The incident occurred following a total loss of engine power attributed to fuel exhaustion. Prior to the flight, the pilot had reported that the aircraft was fully fueled, having topped off the tanks the previous evening at Charleston.
Findings
Post-accident inspections of the aircraft revealed that the outboard fuel filler port cap on the left wing was missing. Upon examining the liquid recovered from the main fuel sump, investigators determined that the substance consisted primarily of water rather than fuel. While the right wing's inboard and outboard filler caps were found to be intact, the absence of the left wing's cap and the presence of water in the fuel system were identified as the primary factors leading to the engine failure due to fuel exhaustion caused by water contamination.