CEN14LA327

The pilot reported that the airplane took off for an aerial mapping flight fully fueled (80 gallons of total fuel, 76 gallons of which were usable). After about 3.9 hours of flight, he returned to the airport to land. When the airplane was 1.5 miles from the runway, the engine lost power. The pilot reported that he performed the engine failure checklist (restart procedure) items from memory but was unable to reestablish power. The airplane cleared the airport perimeter fence but impacted terrain short of the runway. During postaccident examination, no fuel was found in the left tank, fuel was found in the right tank, and the fuel selector was found positioned to the right tank. Other than the empty left tank, the examination revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction or abnormality that would have precluded normal engine operation. Therefore, it is likely that the fuel selector was positioned to the left tank and that the engine lost power due to fuel starvation when this tank ran dry. The pilot likely switched the fuel selector to the right tank during his unsuccessful attempt to restart the engine.

On June 27, 2014, at 1219 eastern daylight time, a Cessna T207, N207AB, landed short of the runway at Indianapolis International Airport (KIND), Indianapolis, Indiana. The pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to Aero Systems, Inc., of Erie, Colorado, and operated by Surdex Corporation, of Chesterfield, Missouri, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight originated from IND approximately 0845.The airplane had been engaged in aerial mapping of an area north on KIND. According to the pilot's accident report, he departed KIND about 0845 with full fuel (80 gallons, 76 gallons useable). After about 3 hours of aerial work, he returned to KIND for land. When the airplane was 1.5 miles from runway 23L, the engine lost power. The pilot was able to clear the airport perimeter fence, but the airplane impacted terrain short of the runway. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors examined the airplane on the day of the accident, and again on June 30 and July 7. According to the FAA's principal maintenance inspector's report, the airplane was placed in a level position and the fuel tanks were visually inspected. No fuel was observed in the left tank, but fuel could be seen in the right tank. When the left tank was sumped, no fuel was recovered. The fuel selector was found positioned on the right tank. When the airplane was raised up, fuel leaked in the area of the main fuel line strainer. When the fuel selector was moved to the left tank position, the fuel stopped leaking. Fuel that was collected showed no evidence of contamination. According to FlightAware, a global aviation software and data services company that tracks flights throughout the world, the airplane's average ground speed was 107 knots. If each tank contained 36.5 gallons of useable fuel and the power loss occurred 3.9 hours later, FAA inspectors calculated the fuel consumption rate to be slightly less than 10 gallons per hour. FAA photographs indicated the beginning Hobbs meter and tachometer times were 1,737.2 and 627.1 hours, and the ending times were 1,741.1 and 630.5 hours, a difference of 3.9 and 3.4 hours, respectively.