Toutle, WA, USA
N2942Y
Cessna 182E
The pilot said that he had "topped the tanks" and secured the gas caps before his departure from Snohomish, Washington. He said that after approximately 30 minutes of flight, he noticed that the fuel tanks were reading approximately empty, and he "knew something was wrong." He immediately descended and headed for the nearest airport when the engine lost power. During the forced landing attempt, the aircraft impacted a utility pole and separated the outboard right wing tip. The airplane continued forward and rotated to the right, subsequently the left wing tip was bent/wrinkled against an earthen road embankment. Post accident evaluation by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector and the evaluation of photographs taken by the pilot indicate that both caps were improperly attached, and there was residual evidence that fuel had been streaming aft from each refueling cap.
On September 4, 2005, at approximately 1130 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182E, N2942Y, was substantially damaged when it impacted a utility pole during a forced landing attempt near Toutle, Washington. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Air Ward, Inc., of Novato, California was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight which had originated from Snohomish, Washington, approximately 45 minutes before the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan. The pilot said that he had "topped the tanks" and secured the gas caps before his departure from Snohomish. He said that after approximately 30 minutes of flight, he noticed that the fuel tanks were reading approximately empty, and he "knew something was wrong." He immediately descended and headed for the nearest airport when the engine quit. During the forced landing attempt, the aircraft impacted a utility pole and separated the outboard right wing tip. The airplane continued forward and rotated to the right, subsequently the left wing tip was bent/wrinkled against an earthen road embankment. Post accident evaluation by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector and the evaluation of photographs taken by the pilot indicate that both caps were improperly attached, and both fuel caps had bluish streak marks extending aft to the trailing edge of their wing.
The loss of engine power as a result of fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's failure to properly secure the fuel caps during his self-servicing and (improperly) preflighting the airplane. A contributing factor was the utility pole.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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