Bonanza 36
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20; Flight Crew Total 970; Flight Crew Type 110
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
I took off and had flight following during the flight and no issues noted during the trip. ATC released me to contact my destination airport; and I was descending out of 11;500 FT. When I was at 8;000 FT and about 20 miles northwest of the airport; I was planning my visual approach to the airport and the engine abruptly lost power. I initially advanced the throttle and mixture and switched to the right tank. I was about 500 FT AGL and realized I needed to land the airplane so I put the gear down and turned into the wind which was blowing 240 degrees according to ASOS. I made a soft field landing the best I could in the sagebrush but the nosewheel folded under the engine and the prop dug into the ground causing a sudden stop. I was uninjured. I noticed there was streaking behind the left fuel cap and the left tank was empty when I took the cap off and looked. The fuel gauge; while I was in the air; read approximately half full. There was about half a tank of fuel in the right tank on my inspection after the landing.
An A36 pilot landed off airport when the engine quit because of fuel starvation after the left wing fuel cap streamed fuel while the right tank was half full.