CHI94LA021

The pilot reported departing for the cross country flight with a full load of fuel. Within 1 mile of his destination, he reported, he applied carburetor heat and the engine lost all power. A forced landing was made in a field. The airplane stalled when settling into ground effect and landed hard rocking up onto the nose before coming to rest in an upright position. Post accident inspection revealed the flight was 4.5 hours long according to the hobbs meter. There was no fuel found in the galscolator and a total of 3.7 gallons were drained from both fuel tanks collectively. Unsusable fuel load for the airplane is 5 gallons.

On October 24, 1993, at 1545 central daylight time, a float equipped Cessna 182, N5390B, registered to D.R. Johnson, T. McBride and R. Zimmerman, collided with the terrain during a forced landing in Byron, Wisconsin, while on a personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan was filed. The pilot was not injured and the passenger received minor injuries. The airplane was destroyed. The flight departed from Chamberlain, South Dakota, on October 24, 1993, at 1135 central daylight time.

The pilot reported he departed Chamberlain with full fuel and after clearing the city flew the remainder of the flight with a power setting of 2300 rpm and 21" manifold pressure at an altitude of 5,500'. The pilot reported that the en route tailwinds which were forecast did not materialize. He stated that 8 miles from his destination of Lake DeNeveu he began his descent without reducing power. He reported that when approximately 3 miles from his destination at an altitude of 2,200' he reduced the power from 21" mp to 17" mp. When 1 mile from the destination, he reported, he applied carburetor heat at which time the engine lost all power. A forced landing was made in a farm field. According to the pilot, "...as I entered ground effect below the treeline, the aircraft stalled and settled hard on the floats with a little forward momentum."

The pilot indicated the total hobbs time for this flight was 4.2 hours and he used fuel consumption charts which indicated the airplane would use 11.1 gallons per hour. According to the hobbs time recorded by the Federal Aviation Inspector during an on-scene examination and also by one of the aircraft owners, the total flight time was 4.5 hours. The manager of the Fond Du Lac Airport stated he was at the accident site just after the accident occurred. He stated that there was a small amount of fuel in the outboard ends of both fuel tanks with no fuel leakage from the airplane. He also stated he checked the gascolator bowl for fuel and it was empty.

One of the current owners of N5390B stated he arrived at the accident site and turned on the airplane's electrical system to check the fuel gauges. He stated that both fuel gauges read empty at that time, however, he determined that due to the wing damage and the way they were bent there was some fuel in the outboard ends of both fuel tanks. He stated he dipped both tanks with a stick and marked the fuel level. He stated that a week or so later once the airplane was moved, he once again used this same stick to dip the tanks. He stated the fuel level matched what he had previously marked on the stick. He stated he drained the fuel from both tanks into a bucket and marked the fuel level in the bucket. He then drained the fuel from the bucket, went to a gas station to refill the bucket back to the level marked and this amount of fuel equalled 3.7 gallons. The airplane's fuel capacity is 60 gallons of which 5 gallons is unusable. Conversations with this same owner and a previous owner revealed they had experienced previous fuel consumption rates from 12 to 13.1 gallons per hour.