N21380

On July 14, 1994, at 0915 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182, N21380, collided with a stand of trees on final approach to Greenville Downtown Airport, following a complete loss of engine power near Greenville, South Carolina. The personal flight operated under 14 CFR Part 91, with an approach clearance. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the pilot was not injured and the passenger received minor injuries. The instrument flight departed Eastman, Georgia, at 0809 hours.

The pilot was issued a descent clearance twenty miles south of the destination airport. According to the pilot, he completed the following arrival check items: the application of carburetor heat, changed the fuel selector position and reduced the throttle to achieve a 500 foot per minute rate of descent from 5000 feet. Upon arriving at 2500 feet, the assigned altitude, the pilot advanced the throttle control to arrest the descent rate, but discovered that the engine had quit. Attempts by the pilot to restore full power failed; the pilot selected a nearby road for a forced landing. While on final approach to the road, the pilot realized that he had insufficient altitude available to make a safe landing on the road. As the pilot maneuvered for a landing at an alternate landing site, the airplane collided with a stand of trees short of the alternate landing site.

After the airplane came to rest, the pilot and passenger exited the airplane but when the pilot returned to the airplane he noticed that the fuel selector was in the fuel off position. According to the pilot, during the before landing check, he accidentally rotated the fuel selector to the off position. No mechanical problems were discovered with the airplane.