N6508B

On October 4, 1995, about 1200 eastern daylight time, a Cessna T210M, N6508B, registered to Discovery Aviation Center Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, experienced a rough running engine in cruise flight. The pilot made a forced landing and the airplane collided with a pole sustaining substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airline transport pilot and pilot rated passenger reported no injuries. The flight originated from Leesburg Airport, Leesburg, Florida, about 12 minutes before the accident.

The pilot stated he checked the fuel tanks during the preflight inspection and estimated that he had about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches of fuel in the left and right fuel tanks. He further stated that he did not perform any fuel consumption calculations for the flight, and 10 gallons of fuel was added to each fuel tank. He flew to his intermediate stop, picked up a passenger and departed for his destination airport. While in cruise flight at 1,800 feet agl, the airplane engine started to run rough. He switched fuel tanks and turned the boost pump on high. The engine smoothed out. About 3 minutes later the engine started running rough again. He repeated the same procedure and the engine continued to run rough. He made a forced landing to the only available landing area. On landing rollout the airplane collided with a fence post.

Examination of the fuel system was accomplished by the FAA in the presence of the pilot. The fuel tanks were not ruptured and a pint of fuel was present. The pilot stated to the NTSB investigator-in-charge, "I made a mistake of trusting the fuel gages and ran the airplane out of fuel".