N54JT

On September 27, 1997, at 1430 central daylight time, a Tomlinson, Pober Super Ace, N54JT, collided with a tree during an attempted emergency landing to the Lebanon Municipal Airport in Lebanon, Tennessee. The local pleasure flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the private pilot was not injured. The flight departed Lebanon, Tennessee, at 1400.

The pilot estimated that the airplane had 16 gallons of low lead aviation fuel in the tanks at takeoff. After takeoff the pilot switched the fuel selector from the fuselage tank to the wing tank. After 30 minutes of flight the pilot returned to Lebanon Airport and entered the traffic pattern for runway04. About 200 feet above the ground, while on final approach to land, the engine quit. Efforts, to restart the engine, failed. The airplane collided with a tree short runway.

The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane. Normal operational procedures for takeoff and landing require that the fuel selector be placed in the fuselage/front tank position. The pilot stated that he had not switched the fuel selector to the fuller fuel tank, fuselage/front tank, prior to the loss of engine power.