A PA-24 (commanche) pilot reported engine failure because of fuel starvation shortly after takeoff. ...

Attributes
ACN	854898
Time
Date	200910
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-24 Comanche
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Route In Use	Other Local
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Distribution System
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Sea Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 26 Flight Crew Total 860 Flight Crew Type 47
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

I had already given 4 different airplane rides and on the 5th one; the engine quit on take off when I was about 300 ft AGL. I switched fuel tanks (4 tanks on board) and verified the fuel pump was on and descended to the 3000ft runway. By now I had already used up more than half of the available runway. I landed on the grass at the end of the runway and coasted through a chain link fence; approx 150 yards from the runway threshold. The aircraft received substantial damage and no one was injured. There was no fire nor any fuel leakage. Most of the damage was to the right wing. The prop did not suddenly stop due to this event. To prevent this from recurring; switching to the fullest tank prior to takeoff; would have worked. To prevent damage to the aircraft; moving the fence to a location not so close to the runway. In this case there was 3000ft of overrun available on the other side of the fence. I do admit thinking that I should switch fuel tanks prior to take-off but the fuel gage indicated 1/2 full. So I elected not to switch tanks. As I mentioned earlier; when airborne; after the engine quit; I did switch to the other main tank and the engine did not start immediately which needed to happen if I was to clear the fence.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA-24 (Commanche) pilot reported engine failure because of fuel starvation shortly after takeoff. He landed on the remaining runway and ran through a fence near the end of the runway.

Narrative: I had already given 4 different airplane rides and on the 5th one; the engine quit on take off when I was about 300 ft AGL. I switched fuel tanks (4 tanks on board) and verified the fuel pump was on and descended to the 3000ft runway. By now I had already used up more than half of the available runway. I landed on the grass at the end of the runway and coasted through a chain link fence; approx 150 yards from the runway threshold. The aircraft received substantial damage and no one was injured. There was no fire nor any fuel leakage. Most of the damage was to the right wing. The prop did not suddenly stop due to this event. To prevent this from recurring; switching to the fullest tank prior to takeoff; would have worked. To prevent damage to the aircraft; moving the fence to a location not so close to the runway. In this case there was 3000ft of overrun available on the other side of the fence. I do admit thinking that I should switch fuel tanks prior to take-off but the fuel gage indicated 1/2 full. So I elected not to switch tanks. As I mentioned earlier; when airborne; after the engine quit; I did switch to the other main tank and the engine did not start immediately which needed to happen if I was to clear the fence.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

A PA-24 (commanche) pilot reported engine failure because of fuel starvation shortly after takeoff. He landed on the remaining runway and ran through a fence near the end of the runway.