FTW98LA288

While on a personal cross-country flight, the pilot spent time circumnavigating thunderstorms and experienced a complete loss of power due to fuel exhaustion. He conducted a forced landing in a field which was rough and uneven. There was a road beside the field which was suitable to use as a runway for his emergency landing. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage during the forced landing. The pilot did not have a multiengine rating, was inexperienced in the aircraft, and his last biennial flight review was conducted in a single engine aircraft 17 years prior to the accident.

On June 26, 1998, at 1500 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-23-160, N4132P, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing 18 miles north of Casper, Wyoming. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed Watertown, South Dakota, at 1100 with a reported destination of Casper.

According to the pilot, he spent a considerable amount of time avoiding thunderstorms en route and exhausted his fuel supply.

The pilot said when both engines lost power, he conducted a forced landing in a field. Due to rough terrain both propellers were bent, an antenna was damaged on the underside of the aircraft, and structural damage was sustained to the underside of the fuselage. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) inspector who went to the scene stated there was an unobstructed straight road beside the field where the pilot conducted his forced landing. According to the inspector, the road could have been used for the landing.

According to the pilot's accident report, he did not receive a weather brief. He stated he checked the weather using the internet prior to departure from Watertown.

According to FAA records, the pilot did not posses a multiengine rating. The pilot indicated the same in his report of the accident and, in addition, the pilot provided information that his last biennial flight review was March 11, 1982. According to the information supplied by the pilot, his total flight time was 400 hours. He said his flight time in make and model was 20 hours, all of which occurred in the last 30 days.