Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250; Flight Crew Total 1000; Flight Crew Type 250
Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
We began the day at XA:00; the plane had 13 gallons of fuel on the pilots side; and 11 on the other. Generally we plan for 5-6 gallons per load of jumpers. After releasing jumpers I descended down from 9;000 feet AGL a couple miles east of the airport. Under 3;000 feet AGL on a 2/3 mile straight in approach to Runway XX @ ZZZ; I continued losing altitude as plane with the throttle fully out to lose airspeed. (It was put in every couple thousand feet descending to 'clear' the engine.) When the desired speed and altitude was reached; I pushed the throttle in with no response. I enriched the mixture and pumped the throttle; and that also made no change. Checked fuel selectors; mags; etc; all with no luck. I realized the aircraft would not make the runway fairly shortly. Continuing straight in; I would have hit the side of an adobe hill.Right was rougher terrain; so left was the best option. I made an announcement on CTAF but may have been too low at that time. I navigated to the smoothest looking area i could find given the very short amount of time I had to deal with the situation. Dropped full flaps; and slowed down as best I could. The plane touched down; bounced over a few hills; and came to rest slightly upward on another hill. I exited the aircraft thru the pilots door; and looked over the plane; then called Person X to inform him of the situation and was able to text him GPS coordinates While waiting I checked the fuel level in the aircraft; and the passenger side was empty; while the pilots seemed to have about 7 gallons; however the plane was at a slight angle so could have been inaccurate.Burning 17 gallons of fuel for 3 flights is about normal. Especially considering the slightly lengthy times to climb today.
C182 pilot reported a force landing due to a fuel issue during landing approach.