CEN18LA351

The pilot departed the airport to rejoin and fly in formation with a vintage airplane. After the airplane rejoined the formation, the engine lost total power; the pilot made a forced landing, during which the airplane nosed over and sustained damage to the vertical stabilizer. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal flight operations. Downloaded engine data revealed a rapid drop of fuel flow and decrease in engine rpm that were consistent with fuel starvation. The pilot attributed the power loss to "running the right tank out of fuel" after not switching the fuel selector from right to left fuel tank, as he had initially planned, during the flight. The pilot stated the high engine power setting he used to rejoin with the vintage airplane was a fuel planning consideration for which he had not accounted and that his preflight and in-flight fuel planning routines were rushed because of his desire to rejoin the formation.

On August 26, 2018, about 1634 eastern daylight time, a Cessna P210N airplane, N4842K, impacted terrain during a forced landing near Delaware, Ohio. The pilot and passenger were not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by Juliet Echo Aviation LLC under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which departed about 1556 from Harry Clever Airport (PHD), Philadelphia, Ohio, with a destination of Grimes Field Airport (I74), Urbana, Ohio. After departing PHD, the pilot climbed to 2,500 ft msl and about 25 minutes later, rejoined to a formation position with a vintage B25 airplane to obtain airborne photos. After being rejoined with the B25 for several minutes, the pilot heard the fuel-injected engine make a "burping" noise, followed by a total loss of power. The pilot executed a forced landing into a cornfield, during which the airplane nosed over, damaging the vertical stabilizer. The pilot stated his preflight and in-flight fuel planning routines were rushed, based on his desire to takeoff and rejoin with the B25 airplane. He recalled takeoff fuel as about 34 gallons, with about 18 gallons in the left tank and about 16 gallons in the right tank, and he departed with the fuel selector set on the right tank. Based on his desire to rejoin expeditiously with the B25, the pilot utilized a higher cruise power setting than normal, with a corresponding higher fuel flow. About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot's timer set on the GPS to switch fuel tanks alarmed, but he thought it was "too early to switch tanks" and he did not switch tanks or check fuel tank quantities at the time. The pilot thought the power loss was due to "running the right tank out of fuel" and attributed his error to not switching the fuel selector from right to left fuel tank when the GPS timer alarmed, as well as the higher fuel flow during cruise than he had planned. Downloaded engine data revealed a fuel flow near 27 gallons per hour for most of the flight. Total fuel consumed on the accident flight was estimated to be about 15 gallons. Two minutes prior to the forced landing, downloaded engine data showed a rapid drop of fuel flow to nearly zero gallons per hour and a rapid decrease in engine rpm. Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal flight operations.