ERA11CA225

Factual narrative

The pilot stated that he and his son, who also held a pilot's certificate, had conducted several practice instrument approaches at three different airports prior to stopping for lunch. They departed back to their home airport, and on the base leg of the traffic pattern for landing, experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot noted that the fuel selector was on the left wing tank, and the corresponding fuel quantity gauge indicated that the tank was empty. The pilot switched the fuel selector to the right tank, attempted a restart, but the engine did not restart. The pilot's son conducted a forced landing to a road, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the left fuel tank contained less than one pint of fuel, and the right fuel tank contained approximately 6 gallons. The pilot stated that he and his son departed on a flight to practice instrument approaches at three different airports. He said that the practice approaches that he completed were uneventful. On the return flight, with the son at the controls, on the base leg of the traffic pattern, the engine experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot said that the fuel selector was on the left wing tank, and the corresponding fuel quantity gauge indicated that the tank was empty. He switched the fuel selector to the right tank, which he used during the practice approaches; however, an attempted restart was unsuccessful. He conducted a forced landing to a road, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and rudder. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the left fuel tank contained less than one pint of fuel, and the right fuel tank contained approximately 6 gallons. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C