Lincoln Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lincoln, Nebraska 68528
Monday, June 26, 2006 16:12 CDT

The airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power on final approach. The pilot and one passenger were uninjured. The flight instructor sustained minor injuries. A second passenger sustained serious injuries. The instrument instructional flight departed about 1300. The accident occurred at 1612 while the airplane was on final approach to intended destination airport. The pilot stated that the flight proceeded normally with a deviation due to an active Military Operations Area (MOA) en route. He noted that winds aloft were about 10 knots from 9 to 10 o'clock relative to the direct flight route. The winds were estimated to add 10 to 15 minutes to the flight time. On final approach, about 1-1/2 miles from the runway, the "engine died with no warning." The pilot noted that the fuel selector was set to the right main tank at the time of the loss of power. The crew subsequently switched to the left tank and activated the auxiliary fuel pump in an unsuccessful effort to restore engine power. A post accident inspection recovered one quart of fuel from the right main fuel tank and 3-1/2 gallons from the left main fuel tank. The fuel tanks did not appear to have been compromised during the accident sequence. The pilot stated that the flight departed with the main tanks topped off, 44 gallons useable, and the auxiliary fuel tanks empty. The flight plan filed with the Federal Aviation Administration showed an estimated time en route of 3 hours and total fuel on-board of 4 hours and 30 minutes. The flight prior to the accident flight was over the same course, except in the opposite direction. According to information provided by the pilot and the fixed base operator at the departure airport, the prior flight lasted approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes. The airplane was fueled with 41 gallons. Performance data provided by the manufacturer indicated that the expected fuel burn at 7,000 feet pressure altitude was: 12.9 gallons-per-hour (gph) at 75-percent power; 11.5 gph at 65-percent power, and 9.8 gph at 55-percent power. The prior owner of the accident aircraft stated he normally planned a fuel burn of 14 gph when he flew the airplane.

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of inaccurate fuel consumption calculations and inadequate monitoring of the remaining fuel quantity en route. A contributing factor was the inadequate supervision of the instructional flight by the flight instructor.