19990531005989A

Pilot advised tower on final for rwy 16R that he was out of fuel and crashed north of airport. 2 serious. (.4)while on a second practice ILS approach, the pilot announced to the Reno ATCT local controller that he was out of fuel. The airplane crashed in a field 1 mile short of the runway. The pilot said that prior to the accident, they had practiced holding patterns, a VOR approach, and one ILS approach. After the engine suddenly quit, the pilot looked at the right fuel gage, which read empty, and switched the selector to the left tank. The pilot was unable to effect an engine restart prior to colliding with the ground. An FAA airworthiness inspector responded to the accident site. He determined that the responding airport fire department units had turned the fuel selector from the left tank to the off position. Examination of the fuel system disclosed that it was intact. Two ounces of fuel were drained from the right wing tank and 13 ounces from the right reservoir tank. The left fuel tank contained about 25 gallons of fuel and the left reservoir tank had 65 ounces. (-23)may 31, 1999, at 1040 hours PDT, a Cessna P210N, N37MJ, collided with terrain following a non-mechanical loss of engine power on approach to runway 16R at Reno, Nevada. The purpose of the flight was a local flight to provide instrument instruction to the aircraft owner. According to a preliminary review of air traffic control tapes, at 1039, a transmission was heard by ATC, from the aircraft, annoucing "mayday, we're out of fuel." The owner-pilot stated that he had flown from yerington municipal airport to Reno to pick up his certified flight instructor. The owner/pilot was in the final stages of preparing for his instrument flight rules checkride. He said that prior to the accident, they had parcticed holding patterns, VOR approaches, and on ILS approach. They were on their second ILS approach when the engine lost all power.