Narrative:

I experienced an in flight loss of power resulting in an off-airport landing in a pasture. The aircraft; a cessna 182Q; sustained damage secondary to brush in the pasture; but there were no injuries. Prior to takeoff; I performed a pre-flight examination of the plane; including sumping both tanks for fuel irregularities; without identifying any abnormal issues. The plane was filled with 65 gallons of fuel for a flight just over 3 hours that should have used no more than 45 gallons of fuel. Fuel supply was checked prior to takeoff. I left without incident during climb out and established an uneventful cruise at 11;000 ft. My fuel flow at that altitude was stable at 10.5 gallons in cruise. At this point in the flight; I had selected fuel flow from the right tank as the plane tends to draw more fuel from the left tank when the selector is set to both tanks during takeoff/climb. Shortly after handoff from center to approach; my fuel flow computer started to show fuel flows that varied between 22 and 35 gallons/hr; although the engine showed no signs of change. I was watching my standard gauges to try and assess if the fuel flow was a broken flow transducer or a real fuel flow issue. I felt; even at a flow of 30 gallons/hr; I should have considerable time to determine the problem prior to needing to land. In working through this problem; I switched my fuel selector valve to the opposite (left) tank without change in the abnormally high fuel flow. I reset the fuel flow computer circuit breaker without change in fuel flow. At approximately 3 minutes after noticing the problem; I lost all engine power when attempting to richen the mixture. At this point; I established an approximately 70 KT descent; notified ATC of my situation and tried to restart the engine. I attempted full throttle; full rich mixture; carb heat; and selected both tanks. Despite turning the magnetos on and off; I could not restart the engine and was forced to land in a pasture after heavy traffic on highway made a road landing too dangerous. I am concerned that my mis-management of the fuel flow problem may have potentially led to the loss of engine power. I am concerned that my manipulation of the fuel tank selector valve; either by accidentally over-rotating the valve to an incorrect setting or by simply limiting fuel flow during a high flow state may have been the precipitating cause of the power failure. If I was to face this situation again; I would opt to land at the nearest airport and troubleshoot the situation on the ground.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot lost power and landed in a field after trying to troubleshoot some fuel system anomalies. Unclear whether the aircraft was out of fuel or if operator error caused power loss.

Narrative: I experienced an in flight loss of power resulting in an off-airport landing in a pasture. The aircraft; a Cessna 182Q; sustained damage secondary to brush in the pasture; but there were no injuries. Prior to takeoff; I performed a pre-flight examination of the plane; including sumping both tanks for fuel irregularities; without identifying any abnormal issues. The plane was filled with 65 gallons of fuel for a flight just over 3 hours that should have used no more than 45 gallons of fuel. Fuel supply was checked prior to takeoff. I left without incident during climb out and established an uneventful cruise at 11;000 FT. My fuel flow at that altitude was stable at 10.5 gallons in cruise. At this point in the flight; I had selected fuel flow from the right tank as the plane tends to draw more fuel from the left tank when the selector is set to both tanks during takeoff/climb. Shortly after handoff from Center to Approach; my fuel flow computer started to show fuel flows that varied between 22 and 35 gallons/hr; although the engine showed no signs of change. I was watching my standard gauges to try and assess if the fuel flow was a broken flow transducer or a real fuel flow issue. I felt; even at a flow of 30 gallons/hr; I should have considerable time to determine the problem prior to needing to land. In working through this problem; I switched my fuel selector valve to the opposite (left) tank without change in the abnormally high fuel flow. I reset the fuel flow computer circuit breaker without change in fuel flow. At approximately 3 minutes after noticing the problem; I lost all engine power when attempting to richen the mixture. At this point; I established an approximately 70 KT descent; notified ATC of my situation and tried to restart the engine. I attempted full throttle; full rich mixture; carb heat; and selected both tanks. Despite turning the magnetos on and off; I could not restart the engine and was forced to land in a pasture after heavy traffic on highway made a road landing too dangerous. I am concerned that my mis-management of the fuel flow problem may have potentially led to the loss of engine power. I am concerned that my manipulation of the fuel tank selector valve; either by accidentally over-rotating the valve to an incorrect setting or by simply limiting fuel flow during a high flow state may have been the precipitating cause of the power failure. If I was to face this situation again; I would opt to land at the nearest airport and troubleshoot the situation on the ground.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.