Narrative:

Upon my return; I departed YYY. The tanks were full at 50 gals. The same check points used for the flight to YYY were used for the return flight. Reported WX conditions at YYY were 2400 ft scattered; wind calm and visibility 10 mi. I departed north; burning fuel from the right tank. Due to low clouds; I decided to stay low for the first segment of the flight in order to maintain VFR. I stayed around 2000 ft MSL for about 1 hour with the mixture rich. The clouds cleared and I was able to climb up to 4500 ft MSL until my descent into the ZZZ area. I selected the right tank for the first hour and the left tank for the second hour. I changed tanks every half-hour thereafter to avoid the aircraft banking toward the heavier side. 5-10 mi south of TTT I descended to about 2000 ft MSL; in anticipation of the segment to avoid the controled airspace. I was burning fuel from the right side for this segment of the flight; mixture rich; because of the low altitude. I flew north and turned inbound to ZZZ approximately 8 mi due east of the airport. I contacted ZZZ tower and was instructed to report 3 mi out; right traffic; runway 16. I reported 3 mi out and was further instructed to join a departure end downwind for runway 16. I completed my descent checklist; turned on the electric fuel pump and switched to the left tank for the landing. I flew over the departure end of runway 16 and began my turn onto the right downwind for runway 16 when the engine suddenly quit and the nose dropped. I don't recall hearing any strange noises. There were no indications of high oil temperature or low oil pressure. I immediately suspected a fuel problem but neither fuel gauge was showing empty although both were low. Since I had just changed tanks from right to left; I considered changing back and attempting a restart. Looking down I realized that I was already on the tank with the most fuel and since I was in the best possible position for a power-off landing; I immediately banked right; back toward the airport which by now was directly behind me. I said something to the tower controller but don't remember exactly what it was. The controller asked me to repeat the transmission and I think I said 'my engine died on me.' the controller quickly said 'you are cleared to land on any runway.' his transmission was calm; very clear; and confident. This instilled great confidence in my ability to get down safely; but if asked; I couldn't tell you why. I looked down at the airport and quickly decided that taking into account my current position and wind conditions (approximately 1500 ft west of departure end of runway 16 with winds 170 degrees at 8 KTS) runway 12 would probably be my best bet. I turned onto a steep final approach for runway 12. I pulled flaps 1 stage at a time watching my speed. I was already quite a ways down the runway and high so I pulled in full flaps and may even have slipped a little to lose altitude. I succeeded in landing on runway 12 and was able to coast the aircraft to the end of the runway and onto the main ramp a few feet clear of the runway. I noticed that the propeller did not stop turning until just before the aircraft stopped rolling. I turned off all power and switches and climbed out of the aircraft. I inspected the engine compartment and saw nothing unusual. I checked the oil and found nothing abnormal as well. I checked the fuel tanks and found that there was still fuel in the left tank but I couldn't tell if there was any in the right tank. I climbed back into the aircraft; tried to restart the engine without success and requested a tow back to my parking spot. I turned on the master switch again and checked the fuel indications. At that point the right tank was indicating empty with the left tank indicating some fuel. I requested a fuel truck and asked them to fill both tanks. The right tank took 24.4 gals and the left tank took 14.8 gals for a total of 39.2 gals. According to the information manual for the aircraft; there should be 0.1875 of unusable fuel in each tank at critical angles with the 24.8125 gals useable fuel in each tank. Using these figures there should have been just under half a gal of useable fuel in the right tank and just over 10 gals in the left tank. Since the aircraft has consistently burned less than 10 gph since I have owned it and the flight to YYY was no different; I thought that there was still 5 gals in the right tank and 10 gals in the left tank when the engine failed. The last 2 or 3 times I flew the aircraft; I found small amounts of water in the right tank during the preflight. I have never found water in the fuel at any other time in any other aircraft. I figured that this water was due to the fact that I haven't flown the aircraft much this year. I estimate that I may have burned an extra few gals of fuel from the right tank during the first hour while flying at a lower altitude with a rich mixture and then again for at least another half-hour at the end. Prior to the engine quitting; I switched to the tank containing the most fuel. But the fact that the engine still quit leads me to suspect that residual water or some other contaminant was sucked into the engine from bottom of the right tank causing the engine to quit. If in fact there was water in the system; it may have prevented a restart. According to the aircraft manual 'water in the system may take some time to be used up and allowing the engine to windmill may restore power.' it goes on to say that 'if power loss is due to fuel exhaustion; power will be restored once the empty fuel lines are filled.' since my engine was drawing fuel from the fullest tank; wind-milling for the entire landing; and would not restart on the ground afterward; I conclude that there was some water or other contaminant responsible for the failure.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PIPER PA28 PLT HAS ENG FAILURE DURING APCH AND LANDS.

Narrative: UPON MY RETURN; I DEPARTED YYY. THE TANKS WERE FULL AT 50 GALS. THE SAME CHK POINTS USED FOR THE FLT TO YYY WERE USED FOR THE RETURN FLT. RPTED WX CONDITIONS AT YYY WERE 2400 FT SCATTERED; WIND CALM AND VISIBILITY 10 MI. I DEPARTED N; BURNING FUEL FROM THE R TANK. DUE TO LOW CLOUDS; I DECIDED TO STAY LOW FOR THE FIRST SEGMENT OF THE FLT IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN VFR. I STAYED AROUND 2000 FT MSL FOR ABOUT 1 HR WITH THE MIXTURE RICH. THE CLOUDS CLRED AND I WAS ABLE TO CLB UP TO 4500 FT MSL UNTIL MY DSCNT INTO THE ZZZ AREA. I SELECTED THE R TANK FOR THE FIRST HR AND THE L TANK FOR THE SECOND HR. I CHANGED TANKS EVERY HALF-HR THEREAFTER TO AVOID THE ACFT BANKING TOWARD THE HEAVIER SIDE. 5-10 MI S OF TTT I DSNDED TO ABOUT 2000 FT MSL; IN ANTICIPATION OF THE SEGMENT TO AVOID THE CTLED AIRSPACE. I WAS BURNING FUEL FROM THE R SIDE FOR THIS SEGMENT OF THE FLT; MIXTURE RICH; BECAUSE OF THE LOW ALT. I FLEW N AND TURNED INBOUND TO ZZZ APPROX 8 MI DUE E OF THE ARPT. I CONTACTED ZZZ TWR AND WAS INSTRUCTED TO RPT 3 MI OUT; R TFC; RWY 16. I RPTED 3 MI OUT AND WAS FURTHER INSTRUCTED TO JOIN A DEP END DOWNWIND FOR RWY 16. I COMPLETED MY DSCNT CHKLIST; TURNED ON THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP AND SWITCHED TO THE L TANK FOR THE LNDG. I FLEW OVER THE DEP END OF RWY 16 AND BEGAN MY TURN ONTO THE R DOWNWIND FOR RWY 16 WHEN THE ENG SUDDENLY QUIT AND THE NOSE DROPPED. I DON'T RECALL HEARING ANY STRANGE NOISES. THERE WERE NO INDICATIONS OF HIGH OIL TEMP OR LOW OIL PRESSURE. I IMMEDIATELY SUSPECTED A FUEL PROB BUT NEITHER FUEL GAUGE WAS SHOWING EMPTY ALTHOUGH BOTH WERE LOW. SINCE I HAD JUST CHANGED TANKS FROM R TO L; I CONSIDERED CHANGING BACK AND ATTEMPTING A RESTART. LOOKING DOWN I REALIZED THAT I WAS ALREADY ON THE TANK WITH THE MOST FUEL AND SINCE I WAS IN THE BEST POSSIBLE POS FOR A PWR-OFF LNDG; I IMMEDIATELY BANKED R; BACK TOWARD THE ARPT WHICH BY NOW WAS DIRECTLY BEHIND ME. I SAID SOMETHING TO THE TWR CTLR BUT DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS. THE CTLR ASKED ME TO REPEAT THE XMISSION AND I THINK I SAID 'MY ENG DIED ON ME.' THE CTLR QUICKLY SAID 'YOU ARE CLRED TO LAND ON ANY RWY.' HIS XMISSION WAS CALM; VERY CLR; AND CONFIDENT. THIS INSTILLED GREAT CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITY TO GET DOWN SAFELY; BUT IF ASKED; I COULDN'T TELL YOU WHY. I LOOKED DOWN AT THE ARPT AND QUICKLY DECIDED THAT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT MY CURRENT POS AND WIND CONDITIONS (APPROX 1500 FT W OF DEP END OF RWY 16 WITH WINDS 170 DEGS AT 8 KTS) RWY 12 WOULD PROBABLY BE MY BEST BET. I TURNED ONTO A STEEP FINAL APCH FOR RWY 12. I PULLED FLAPS 1 STAGE AT A TIME WATCHING MY SPD. I WAS ALREADY QUITE A WAYS DOWN THE RWY AND HIGH SO I PULLED IN FULL FLAPS AND MAY EVEN HAVE SLIPPED A LITTLE TO LOSE ALT. I SUCCEEDED IN LNDG ON RWY 12 AND WAS ABLE TO COAST THE ACFT TO THE END OF THE RWY AND ONTO THE MAIN RAMP A FEW FEET CLR OF THE RWY. I NOTICED THAT THE PROP DID NOT STOP TURNING UNTIL JUST BEFORE THE ACFT STOPPED ROLLING. I TURNED OFF ALL PWR AND SWITCHES AND CLBED OUT OF THE ACFT. I INSPECTED THE ENG COMPARTMENT AND SAW NOTHING UNUSUAL. I CHKED THE OIL AND FOUND NOTHING ABNORMAL AS WELL. I CHKED THE FUEL TANKS AND FOUND THAT THERE WAS STILL FUEL IN THE L TANK BUT I COULDN'T TELL IF THERE WAS ANY IN THE R TANK. I CLBED BACK INTO THE ACFT; TRIED TO RESTART THE ENG WITHOUT SUCCESS AND REQUESTED A TOW BACK TO MY PARKING SPOT. I TURNED ON THE MASTER SWITCH AGAIN AND CHKED THE FUEL INDICATIONS. AT THAT POINT THE R TANK WAS INDICATING EMPTY WITH THE L TANK INDICATING SOME FUEL. I REQUESTED A FUEL TRUCK AND ASKED THEM TO FILL BOTH TANKS. THE R TANK TOOK 24.4 GALS AND THE L TANK TOOK 14.8 GALS FOR A TOTAL OF 39.2 GALS. ACCORDING TO THE INFO MANUAL FOR THE ACFT; THERE SHOULD BE 0.1875 OF UNUSABLE FUEL IN EACH TANK AT CRITICAL ANGLES WITH THE 24.8125 GALS USEABLE FUEL IN EACH TANK. USING THESE FIGURES THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN JUST UNDER HALF A GAL OF USEABLE FUEL IN THE R TANK AND JUST OVER 10 GALS IN THE L TANK. SINCE THE ACFT HAS CONSISTENTLY BURNED LESS THAN 10 GPH SINCE I HAVE OWNED IT AND THE FLT TO YYY WAS NO DIFFERENT; I THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS STILL 5 GALS IN THE R TANK AND 10 GALS IN THE L TANK WHEN THE ENG FAILED. THE LAST 2 OR 3 TIMES I FLEW THE ACFT; I FOUND SMALL AMOUNTS OF WATER IN THE R TANK DURING THE PREFLT. I HAVE NEVER FOUND WATER IN THE FUEL AT ANY OTHER TIME IN ANY OTHER ACFT. I FIGURED THAT THIS WATER WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT I HAVEN'T FLOWN THE ACFT MUCH THIS YEAR. I ESTIMATE THAT I MAY HAVE BURNED AN EXTRA FEW GALS OF FUEL FROM THE R TANK DURING THE FIRST HR WHILE FLYING AT A LOWER ALT WITH A RICH MIXTURE AND THEN AGAIN FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER HALF-HR AT THE END. PRIOR TO THE ENG QUITTING; I SWITCHED TO THE TANK CONTAINING THE MOST FUEL. BUT THE FACT THAT THE ENG STILL QUIT LEADS ME TO SUSPECT THAT RESIDUAL WATER OR SOME OTHER CONTAMINANT WAS SUCKED INTO THE ENG FROM BOTTOM OF THE R TANK CAUSING THE ENG TO QUIT. IF IN FACT THERE WAS WATER IN THE SYS; IT MAY HAVE PREVENTED A RESTART. ACCORDING TO THE ACFT MANUAL 'WATER IN THE SYS MAY TAKE SOME TIME TO BE USED UP AND ALLOWING THE ENG TO WINDMILL MAY RESTORE PWR.' IT GOES ON TO SAY THAT 'IF PWR LOSS IS DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION; PWR WILL BE RESTORED ONCE THE EMPTY FUEL LINES ARE FILLED.' SINCE MY ENG WAS DRAWING FUEL FROM THE FULLEST TANK; WIND-MILLING FOR THE ENTIRE LNDG; AND WOULD NOT RESTART ON THE GND AFTERWARD; I CONCLUDE THAT THERE WAS SOME WATER OR OTHER CONTAMINANT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FAILURE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.