Narrative:

While maneuvering at 5;000 ft MSL; I experienced total and abrupt loss of power. I immediately trimmed for best glide; verified the fuel selector was on; applied full mixture; propeller forward; full throttle and checked the magnetos. Next I looked for a place to land. I was over a congested area and was unsure if I would make it to my airport of intended landing. So I split the difference and left an option to land on a freeway. I attempted to recover the fuel tank by flying uncoordinated with the ball leaning to the side of the lower tank; in case the fuel flow had been interrupted. By the time I descended to 3;800 MSL; ATC had vectored another aircraft away from me and queried me about what I was doing since I had been cleared in the bravo airspace to maintain my position at 5;000 ft. I informed the controller at that time that I had to declare an emergency due to an engine out and that I was headed toward my destination. I informed him I could make the field; at which time he turned me over to the tower. I called tower and he cleared me to land straight in runway 7. By now I was at 2;500 ft and attempted some more troubleshooting. I turned on the emergency boost pump and regained power; but it was not smooth. Having the field made with landing clearance; I kept the power at idle and had to slip it in on a steep approach to make a safe landing without incident. I taxied off the runway to parking and did some run-ups and the engine was still running poorly. After about 5 to 10 minutes it cleared and ran smoothly again. I shut down the engine; topped the tanks and determined that I should have had 8 gallons of usable fuel on board when I landed. The cause of fuel flow interruption is still in question and is being investigated.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C185 engine quit at 5;000 FT in a position allowing the pilot to glide to a nearby airport. During the descent he used the emergency fuel pump to sustain a rough running engine where after landing a fuel system malfunction was being investigated.

Narrative: While maneuvering at 5;000 FT MSL; I experienced total and abrupt loss of power. I immediately trimmed for best glide; verified the fuel selector was on; applied full mixture; propeller forward; full throttle and checked the magnetos. Next I looked for a place to land. I was over a congested area and was unsure if I would make it to my airport of intended landing. So I split the difference and left an option to land on a freeway. I attempted to recover the fuel tank by flying uncoordinated with the ball leaning to the side of the lower tank; in case the fuel flow had been interrupted. By the time I descended to 3;800 MSL; ATC had vectored another aircraft away from me and queried me about what I was doing since I had been cleared in the Bravo airspace to maintain my position at 5;000 FT. I informed the Controller at that time that I had to declare an emergency due to an engine out and that I was headed toward my destination. I informed him I could make the field; at which time he turned me over to the Tower. I called Tower and he cleared me to land straight in Runway 7. By now I was at 2;500 FT and attempted some more troubleshooting. I turned on the emergency boost pump and regained power; but it was not smooth. Having the field made with landing clearance; I kept the power at idle and had to slip it in on a steep approach to make a safe landing without incident. I taxied off the runway to parking and did some run-ups and the engine was still running poorly. After about 5 to 10 minutes it cleared and ran smoothly again. I shut down the engine; topped the tanks and determined that I should have had 8 gallons of usable fuel on board when I landed. The cause of fuel flow interruption is still in question and is being investigated.

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.