N5005J

On September 4, 2004, about 1100 central daylight time, a Cessna T310R, N5005J, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power during cruise flight. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions on an instrument rules flight plan. There were no injuries to the 5 occupants. The flight departed from the Fitch H. Beach Airport, Charlotte, Michigan, at an unconfirmed time.

The pilot stated in a telephone interview that during the flight, a pilot rated passenger was handling radio communications and also handling some flying duties. He stated that he believes that pilot rated passenger inadvertently switched the fuel selectors so that both engines were using fuel from the right main fuel tank. He said that he believes that this occurred when the pilot rated passenger was attempting to switch the fuel tanks from the auxiliary fuel tanks back to the main fuel tanks. He stated that later in the flight both engines stopped producing power. The pilot stated that he switched fuel tanks and was able to re-start the left engine, but could not get the right engine to restart. He said that he was unable to maintain altitude and elected to land on a gravel road. The pilot said that the road was narrow and the left landing gear went off of the road. The airplane subsequently went off of the left side of the road and into a bean field. The pilot stated that during the attempts to restart the right engine, the propeller was not placed in the feather position. He stated that he was the pilot in command of the flight and that he was seated in the left seat of the airplane. The pilot did not report any malfunction of the airplane or it's systems.