BE33 instructor pilot experiences power loss on final approach and lands successfully off airport. I...

Attributes
ACN	916798
Time
Date	201011
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bonanza 33
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel Selector
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 1150 Flight Crew Type 5
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

While on final approach the engine suddenly lost power. The crew attempted to restart the engine by switching fuel tanks and following the emergency procedures. There was not sufficient time to restart the engine; so an off field landing was made without damage to the aircraft; persons; or property. It was later determined that there was insufficient fuel in the operational fuel tank even though there was sufficient fuel in the other fuel tank; but there was not enough time to achieve a restart. In the future; one possible way to prevent the problem from happening is to make sure that the fuel selector is on the fullest tank prior to commencing the approach.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE33 instructor pilot experiences power loss on final approach and lands successfully off airport. Insufficient fuel in the selected tank caused the power loss.

Narrative: While on final approach the engine suddenly lost power. The crew attempted to restart the engine by switching fuel tanks and following the emergency procedures. There was not sufficient time to restart the engine; so an off field landing was made without damage to the aircraft; persons; or property. It was later determined that there was insufficient fuel in the operational fuel tank even though there was sufficient fuel in the other fuel tank; but there was not enough time to achieve a restart. In the future; one possible way to prevent the problem from happening is to make sure that the fuel selector is on the fullest tank prior to commencing the approach.

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.