PA-24 Comanche
Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 7; Flight Crew Total 504; Flight Crew Type 335
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Aircraft; Human Factors
Flying [third] flight of the day. All three run-ups of the day had been normal. Lost power on takeoff from runway at ~400ft AGL and could not reestablish it. Landed straight ahead and landed hard on runway surface and departed runway to left and beyond the runway end in the sagebrush and soft soil. Prop was still wind-milling. Pilot and passenger were unharmed. I shut down the engine with mixture; turned off the master switch; fuel pump. Turned the fuel selector to off; closed the throttle; then exited the plane. The left main landing gear was damaged with the skin above it punctured by it. The prop appeared to be fine; indicating no prop strike. No obvious damage to the rest of the plane based on cursory exterior looks. No one was harmed. It appears that the left main tank was run dry on this take-off run; based on looking in the fuel tank after the plane was secured at the airport. There was plenty of fuel in the remaining tanks. I knew this tank was lower than the rest and thought I was on the right main on this takeoff. Since I turned the selector to off just after landing before exiting the plane; I can't recall definitively whether the fuel was on the left or right main. This incident is not an accident within the meaning of the NTSB definition.
PA24 pilot experiences engine failure at 400 feet AGL and lands on the runway remaining; resulting in a runway excursion and damage to the wing and left landing gear. Fuel exhaustion was thought to be the cause as the left main tank was dry.