20130122001269A

At approximately 19:25 EST on January 21, aircraft N140PG, a Cirrus SR20, s/n 1920, declared an emergency due to low fuel while on short final to Danbury municipal airport (dxr), Danbury, CT. The pilot deployed the ballistic parachute and the aircraft settled in some trees in a residential area approximately two miles from the airport. The pilot and two occupants were not injured.

The flight was conducted under 14 CFR part 91. Aircraft was enroute from groton airport (gon) to Danbury municipal airport (dxr). Weather was visual meteorological conditions, and was not a factor.

On scene investigation revealed the aircraft was located in a commercial parking lot at the corner of south street and wixted avenue, Danbury, CT. The parachute tangled in the adjacent power lines and the aircraft came to rest on its nose. The empennage broke off on impact. All major components of the airplane were accounted for at the scene with the exception of the ballistic parachute cover. Both left and right fuel tanks were intact and caps were installed. There was no smell of fuel or evidence of any leaks at the scene.

The aircraft was recovered and transported to dxr that night. Inspection of the aircraft the following day revealed the following: the flaps were in the full up position, the throttle was in idle and the mixture was in cutoff. The fuel selector was set to the right tank, and the boost pump was in the off position. Battery power was applied to aircraft and both fuel gauges indicated zero quantity.

All exterior damaged appeared to be caused by impact with the trees and the ground. All prop blades were bent aft, all four engine mounts were broken and the engine moved aft approximately eight inches causing the oil filter housing to break off when it impacted the nose strut mount.

The upper and lower engine cowls were removed. All fuel hoses were found to be intact and undamaged. All wiring was found to be intact and connected. Both left and right wing fuel cap were removed and no fuel was noted in either tank. The engine sump and left and right fuel tank sumps were drained for a combined total of 26 ounces of fuel.

The right multi-function display?s flash card was removed along with the remote data module located on the rudder spar and sent to the NTSB for testing.

There were three persons on board. A private pilot who was flying the aircraft located in the left seat and a flight instructor was in the right seat. The private pilot?s brother was located in the rear seat. The private pilot was flying the aircraft, when about six miles out from Danbury airport, the engine started running rough and then stopped running. At this point the flight instructor took the controls and was able to restart the engine. At four miles from the airport the engine stopped running for a second time. Based on a review of the Danbury airport air traffic control tower audio recordings, the flight instructor first stated that they had no fuel and when the engine quit the second time he stated they were out of fuel.

A line person who is employed by reliant aircraft service was interviewed and stated that he fueled N140PG on January 20, 2013. The fuel load request was to fill to the tabs plus an additional eight gallons. That fuel load should have made the total fuel quantity 43 gallons. There is no other record of the aircraft being fueled again from that time to the time of the accident.

Records showed that N140PG flew for 2.7 hours before the accident flight departed. The tach time was obtain from the aircraft after the accident and it was determined that the accident flight lasted 1.1 hours.