N82313

On August 9, 1996, about 1510 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-25-235, N82313, registered to Owen and Heath Incorporated, crashed in a field while making a forced landing following loss of engine power, at Farmville, North Carolina, while on a Title 14 CFR Part 137 aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the commercial-rated pilot received minor injuries. The flight originated from the Craft Air, Inc. strip, the same day, about 1310.

The pilot stated he tracks his fuel usage and fuel remaining by use of a stop watch. The aircraft had 38 gallons of usable fuel at departure and he estimated it consumed 19 gallons per hour at maximum power. He departed the Craft Air, Inc. strip and flew to some cotton fields about 12 miles from the strip. He reduced engine power to about 65 percent. After spraying the fields he started the return flight back to the Craft Air, Inc. strip. His stop watch read 1 hour 52 minutes and he thought he had about 25 minutes of fuel remaining. After 8 more minutes of flight the engine coughed and quit, similar to shutting off the mixture. He had run out of fuel. As he approached a field for landing he remained high to clear trees and his speed was slow. He arrived over the field at about 30 feet and entered a slip. The aircraft stalled and dropped. It landed hard, right wing first and came to a stop in about 30 feet.

The owner of the aircraft stated the aircraft consumes 19 gallons per hour in aerial application operations and that he tells the pilots to have the aircraft on the ground before 2 hours since the last refueling. When they recovered the aircraft it contained no usable fuel and there was no evidence of inflight fuel leakage from the fuel strainer or tanks. He has not had any reports from other pilots of this aircraft having excessive fuel usage.

Lycoming Engine Fuel Consumption Charts show the Lycoming O-540-B engine installed on the Piper PA-25-235 aircraft consumes about 23 gallons of fuel per hour at maximum power of 2575 rpm. At 2500 rpm, the aircraft consumes about 19 gallons per hour.