C182 pilots reported the fuel quantity indicators began indicating incorrectly and the engine lost power during a long flight resulting in an off-airport landing. The PIC had stopped at several airports during the flight to refuel due to a high-than-normal fuel burn rate and suspected there may have also been a fuel leak.
Synopsis
C182 pilots reported the fuel quantity indicators began indicating incorrectly and the engine lost power during a long flight resulting in an off-airport landing. The PIC had stopped at several airports during the flight to refuel due to a high-than-normal fuel burn rate and suspected there may have also been a fuel leak.
Narrative
On Day 0 at approximately XA:30 am myself as well as three other passengers had departed ZZZ1 airport in a Cessna R182. The goal of the trip was to travel to ZZZ2 to drop off my good friend's family who had come to visit. The morning of the flight was uneventful with winds favoring Runway XX. We had conducted a thorough preflight as well as received a standard weather briefing in preparation for the long flight ahead. In addition we had calculated the weight and balance three times and came to the conclusion that we would need to reduce our fuel on board the aircraft to 45 gallons in order to accommodate four full-grown adults as well as forty pounds of baggage. FBO X had agreed to take out the required fuel the previous day so that we could conduct a standard preflight and take off expeditiously. After completing all of the required checklists; we boarded all of the passengers and took off from runway 12 with no abnormalities. Our route of flight was to take us along the coast of State X and into the state of State Y. Our first place of intended landing was going to be ZZZ3. My friend and myself decided we would amend our first place of intended landing to ZZZ4 as we were facing winds greater than what was forecasted for the flight; and we wanted to give the passengers in the backseat a needed break. We proceeded to land at ZZZ4 and upon evaluating the state of our fuel; we determined that we still had 15 gallons of fuel in the tanks; which we would replace with an additional thirty gallons of fuel from FBO Y. This would keep us within our weight and balance tables. We calculated our planned fuel burn and concluded that we would have enough for the second leg of the trip and land with approximately fifteen gallons of fuel; which would be more than enough for the second leg of the trip as this would require around twenty five gallons of fuel. After we had spent some time on the ground my friend and I proceeded to conduct another preflight inspection and I visually confirmed that thirty gallons of 100LL had been placed into the fuel tanks. To be clear fifteen gallons of 100LL were placed between the two tanks bringing the total up to forty-five gallons total. After we had completed the preflight inspection we loaded the passengers in the airplane and proceeded to depart the airport around XE:00Pm. After departing ZZZ4 the flight was great with no issues or delays through the nearby Bravo airspace. Name and myself completed the cruise checklist as in accordance with the CESSNA POH. Upon reaching 6;500 feet; I proceeded to lean the aircraft to maintain best cruise performance for the duration of the flight for optimal performance. With the headwinds as well as having an above standard temperature; we set the manifold pressure at 22 inches and had the RPM set to 23 hundred RPM which gave us a calculated fuel burn of 12.2 GPH. We continued to follow the coast to our second point of intended landing which was going to be ZZZ5. During the flight though I had recalled that by NOTAM ZZZ5 didn't have any fuel; so we had decided to to go to ZZZ which had 100LL and it was only ten minutes further. After calling the airport administrator to confirm there was fuel at the airfield; we amended our flight plan with ZZZ Center and proceeded direct to the airfield. We started our descent from 6;500 feet around thirty-five miles south of the airfield so as to make a gradual descent to allow for a regional airline to pass us and land before us.While in the descent I had noted that the fuel gauge indicators were acting incorrectly as both the left and the right tanks began to indicate that we had more fuel than what was actually in the tank. The right tank was indicating that we still had roughly twenty gallons of fuel whereas the left was indicating we still had roughly 10 gallons of fuel. Upon leveling out at 1;500 feet indicated our engine began to surge violently. The nose of the aircraft began to rise due to the autopilot being engaged. Iverbally stated that I have control of the aircraft and for my friend to begin the emergency Loss of Power checklist. At this time the engine had died and we were attempting to get it to start by any means possible. My friend completed the checklist to no avail and [advised ATC] on the CTAF frequency and the information was relayed to ZZZ Center who notified the local authorities to our situation. Simultaneously as this was happening; I knew that we would not make the airfield and I had pitched the nose down to break an impending stall; which was brought to my attention by hearing the stall warning horn. In doing so I decided that we would land in a field directly in front of us as there were residences all around us as well as cattle in an adjacent field to our left as well as farming equipment to the right of the field. By the Grace of God I was able to land the airplane without any damage to the aircraft or property; and all passengers were able to walk away without injury. First responders arrived on scene and the authorities [were] notified of the situation. After reporting the incident; the authorities released the aircraft and stated that there was no investigation on their end. Upon inspection of the aircraft The right tank was completely empty of fuel; whereas the left tank still had; from what I could tell; roughly three gallons or less. After evaluating the aircraft I believe the aircraft had suffered some type of fuel leak in mid flight; which would indicate the higher than normal fuel indications on the fuel gauges as well as effect the total quantity of fuel in the tanks.
Second reporter narrative
On Day 0 around XA:30 am; myself and a friend who is a pilot and two family members arrived at ZZZ1 airport. We were going to fly to the ZZZ2 airport. We did a preflight and visually checked the fuel and used the fuel gauges to determine the amount of fuel in the plane. This lined up to be 45 gallons which was what the FBO we rented from stated would be in the plane. We doubled checked the weather along the way along with our flight plan; fuel calculations; and weight and balance. We departed ZZZ1 around XB:00 am and started to fly to ZZZ3. We determined around the ZZZ4 that we were not comfortable with the amount of fuel we had left. We decided to divert to ZZZ4 and get some more fuel. We were monitoring how much we burned up to this point and determined it should be around 30 gallons of fuel. We then decided to purchase 30 gallons of fuel. Due to the head winds that were present; we added another fuel stop at Fortuna California (KFOT) which would be around 2 hours and 15 mins away. We did the calculations needed to get there and determined we would have enough fuel to get to this airport. We departed ZZZ4 around XE:30 and headed to ZZZ5. Halfway through we were reviewing the airport to make sure we would be comfortable landing there and realized we missed a NOTAM stating no self-service fuel was available. The airport did not mention if they had fuel service. We decided to go to the next airport which would add about 15 minutes. With this; we determined we would have around 12 gallons of fuel left over. Which is well within the VFR minimums required. There was a NOTAM stating we needed 30 mins prior notice to get fuel so around 1 hour out we called them to let them know we were on our way. They advised the NOTAM was for after hours and we would have no issues there. Upon reaching the area for the airport ZZZ approach was transferring us to ZZZ. They advised us that we would be getting to the airport around the same time as a regional jet so to pay attention. We then switched to CTAF and did our 10 NM call. We then heard the regional jet state they were about 15 NM out. We decided that we would level off at 1500 ft and coordinate with the regional about us doing a 360 for spacing. Upon us deciding this we were about to do the radio call when the engine suddenly ran rough. We checked and made sure mixture was full rich; carb heat was on; and throttle was fully in. We were at this point losing altitude and airspeed. My friend who was PIC at the time turned autopilot off and tried to gain airspeed and level off as I did the checklists. The engine then stopped; and we decided we were going to land in a field. I [announced our status] to the CTAF and coordinated with the other pilots in the area as my friend landed the plane. We safely landed the plane in the field with no injuries and no damage to the aircraft.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.