SEA00LA045

On February 18, 2000, approximately 1440 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 150H, N50348, collided with a series of fence posts during a forced landing after a loss of power near Spangle, Washington. The airline transport pilot and his passenger were not injured, but the aircraft, which was owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed Albany, Oregon, about three hours prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. The pilot was on a VFR flight plan, and there was no report of an ELT activation.

According to the pilot, the aircraft was fitted with long-range tanks, and at the time of departure there was enough fuel on board for a six hour flight (28.5 gallons). He had planned that during the 3.5 hour flight the aircraft would use approximately 16 gallons of fuel. But while en route the fuel quantity diminished at a considerably higher rate than he planned for. He said he was not aware of this situation until well into the flight because the fuel quantity indicator system had given erratic and inconsistent quantity indications and one of the fuel gauges may have temporarily stuck. Once he realized that the indicator system had malfunctioned and that he was low on fuel, he headed for the airport at Spangle. So as to avoid flight over rugged terrain while low on fuel, the pilot decided to take a more indirect route to Spangle that would keep him over more hospitable terrain. While trying to reach the airport, the engine experienced a complete loss of power, and the pilot lined up to make a forced landing in an open field. But as he got lower, he realized that the field contained some large rocks and was too bumpy. Therefore, while at low altitude he switched his landing point to a dirt road that sat between a set of power lines on one side and a barbed wire fence on the other. As he was making a final low-level turn to line up with the road, the horizontal stabilizer hooked a strand of the barbed-wire fence, resulting in the aircraft yawing and coming in contact with a series of fence posts.

A post-accident investigation revealed fuel stains that indicated there had been significant leakage from the fuel tanks and fuel distribution system. Bench testing of the fuel quantity sensor/sender units revealed that both were "very erratic" between the full and empty extremes. Disassembly of the transmitter units revealed that the electrical contact surface that normally rides up and down on the rheostat windings were almost completely worn away on both units.